Build-A-Thon Builds On

Some say build it and they will come, we engineers know you only need to buy the supplies and plenty of food to attract a crowd. As evidence, more than 80 people showed up at the E-Week Build-A-Thon 2017 to build their own creations, or simply to watch others do the same. Either way, everyone left having had a great time, and slightly more full in both belly and mind

At the Build-A-Thon this year, we had four main stations, including three fun building challenges. First, there was the NSBE marshmallow towers competition where teams were tasked with building the tallest structure out of skewers and toothpicks; the tallest one nearly grazed the ceiling. Second, there was the ASME catapult competition where teams were challenged to hurl a jumbo marshmallow as far as they could; one team out distanced the room we were in. Thirdly, there was the MESS buoyancy competition; two teams never reached their limits since we ran out of weights to use. In addition, there was a food and information section where pizza, soda, & ME125 ice cream was served, along with a table advertising ASME & NSBE activities as well as upcoming events.

Still, it is important this event could not have happend without a lot of help and planning beforehand; this year, ASME, MESS & NSBE coordinated planning, spearheaded by ASME. Thank you to the University of Delaware College of Engineering for their financial support, media support (including video recap), flyer printing, and countless hours of planning advice & assistance. Thank you to the Department of Mechanical Engineering for providing the two 2.5 gallon tubs of ME125 ice cream and making scarf sales possible. Furthermore, thank you to the dozen volunteers who came out to help make this event a success. Hopefully we’ll catch you at the ASME & Maker Series Woodworking Build-A-Thon that’s currently in the works!

Author’s note: This post originally published at http://sites.udel.edu/asme/2017/02/22/build-a-thon-builds-on/