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JPL Annual Invention Challenge - 2013

Hole in One Contest

To all school teams, JPL Teams, and Volunteers -

On a chilly and sunny day, the 2013 JPL Invention Challenge was held last Friday on the 180 Mall with more than 250 spectators and participants. This year's contest objective was to create a device that can propel and/or move a golf ball into a target whose center is located 1.5 meters away from the device. Only one attempt is allowed. The team that completes the task in the fastest time will be the winning team.

View event photos

A total of 19 school teams and 10 JPL teams came up with different ways to accomplish this task. The energy sources were varied such as surgical tubing, compression springs, and gravity. This year's challenge was very difficult with only 11 of the 29 teams completing the task. The results are shown below for each team.

It was a difficult challenge because of the size of the target and the need for speed. Extreme accuracy was required just to get the ball into the target. My congratulations go out to everyone who worked on this challenging problem.

Entry No. School/JPL Employee Time (seconds) Comments
30 Alexander Hamilton High School 0.6 1st Place - Students
107 Alan DeVault (Scott Nolte) 0.62 1st Place - JPL
17 Los Angeles County HS for the Arts 0.76 2nd Place - Students
101 Richard Goldstein 0.83 2nd Place - JPL
35 Culver City High School 1.01 3rd Place - Students and Largest Entry
71 Fountain Valley High School 1.15
50 Crescenta Valley High School 1.37 Heaviest Entry
29 Pacific Technology School 1.38 Most Creative Entry
108 Turkish Team 1.5 3rd Place - JPL
105 Paul Backes 1.56 Most Unusual Entry
103 Jon Nelson 3.59
66 Los Angeles Senior High DQ
10 Temple City High School INC
106 Kristan Ellis INC
4 Arcadia High School INC Smallest Entry
5 Muskwa Club INC
73 San Marcos High School INC
57 South Pasadena High School INC Most Artistic Entry
44 University High School INC
40 Granite Hills High School INC
37 Culver City High School INC
38 Granite Hills High School INC
15 Glendale High School INC
113 Don Potter INC
110 Erik Hovlund INC Lightest Entry
112 Don Potter INC
20 Diamond Bar High School INC
31 Alexander Hamilton High School INC
109 Tom Roberts INC
111 Kristan Ellis Withdrew

In January, a series of photographs will be posted on the site, and a few DVD copies of the video may be made available.

I wish to thank all of the volunteers (listed below) that put on the show. Without their help, the event would not have been possible. A special thanks goes out to Kim Lievense and her Public Services team, headed by Roni Dash, for collecting the entry forms and video release forms and processing more than 200 student badges for all of the student teams. I also wish to acknowledge the talented work performed by Robert Denise for being the master of ceremonies during the contest.

Name: Position:
Joan Stupik General Helper
David Breda Assistant to organizer
Ashley Chandler Recording Secretary
Sherry Stukes Recording Secretary
Chris Landry Referee
Robert Denise Announcer
Lyn Repath-Martos Check-in
Mar Vaquero Check-in
Hared Ochoa Check-in
Ingrid Beerer Check-in
T Nilawat Safety
Ezra Abrahamy Safety
Kristen MacNeal Timer - lead
Megan Fazio Timer
Matt Scholz Timer
Martin Michalik Timer
Mike Malaska Timer
Fabien Nicaise Field Judge
Johannes Gross Field Judge
John Segui Area Patroller
Nitin Arora Area Patroller
Aline Zimmer Area Patroller
Mike Malaska Set - up helper
Jennifer Lee Set - up helper
Joseph Joe Set - up helper
Kristian Grayson Set - up helper
Shannon Vaughn Clean-up helper
Amelia Quon Photographer
Bryan Johnson Photographer
Fred Calef Photographer
David Tseng Videographer
Jose Pi Videographer - shorts
Ara Kourchians Judge
Pamela Huntoon Judge
Eamon Doyle Judge

Contact Information

Public Services Office

4800 Oak Grove Drive
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Mail Stop 126-347
Located in Building 126-336
Pasadena, CA 91109

Paul MacNeal
paul.d.macneal@jpl.nasa.gov
Phone: (818) 354-7824

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