JPL Annual Invention Challenge - 2013

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.

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.

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.

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