JPL Annual Invention Challenge - 2018
Under overcast skies on a wonderful day in December the 20th Anniversary of the JPL Invention Challenge was held on December 14th.
A crowd of around 400 people were able to watch the event and admire all of the wonderful entries into this year’s challenging contest. The official results are attached. Please look for photos on this site soon.
I wish to thank everyone who entered and participated in this year’s contest. A special recognition goes out to the three teams from Ethiopia and the team from Guam that flew all the way around the world to compete in this contest. The Upright Pipe Contest proved to be a challenge. Of the 83 student teams that signed up, only 57 participated in the regional contest. Of those 57 teams only 19 actually completed the task and received a time. That shows how difficult the challenge was. Similar results were found for the JPL teams.
I also wish to thank all of the volunteers 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 Kim Johansen, for collecting the entry forms and video release forms and processing more than 300 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.
As always I look forward to the contest for next year.
| Entry # | School Name | Team Name | Time (secs) | Award |
| 003 | Diamond Bar High School | DBQ Sauce | 35.80 | Most Unusual |
| 006 | Santa Monica High School | Vikingx | DQ - Contact with device | Largest |
| 007 | Santa Monica High School | The Heavy Lifters | 2.75 | |
| 015 | Arcadia High School | Absolute Value C | 2.60 | |
| 019 | Oakwood School | Oakwood #1 | 1.37 | Student - 1st |
| 020 | Oakwood School | Oakwood #2 | 2.13 | |
| 021 | Oakwood School | Oakwood #3 | 5.54 | |
| 029 | South East High School | W.I.S. | Did not compete | |
| 032 | Alexander Hamilton High School | We Made IT | 1.59 | Student - 2nd |
| 033 | Alexander Hamilton High School | Triangle Chompers | 3.85 | |
| 034 | Alexander Hamilton High School | Mark 13 | 6.35 | Most Creative |
| 035 | South Pasadena High School | log_rhythm | 4.63 | Most Artistic |
| 038 | Oxford Academy | Team #1 | 2.35 | |
| 043 | Temple City High School | Team A | 9.25 | |
| 044 | Temple City High School | Team B | DQ - Did not complete task | Heaviest |
| 046 | Heart of Los Angeles | Green Mario | No show | |
| 060 | Taft Charter High School | Taft Toreadors | DQ - Contact with device | |
| 062 | Los Angeles High School | Oakwood #1 | 2.34 | |
| 064 | Los Angeles High School | WILD CATS | 1.67 | Student - 3rd |
| 082 | Walnut High School | Walnut | 4.48 | |
| 101 | Leo Cheng | Amphritrite Robotics Design | 16.60 | |
| 102 | Kim Aaron | Withdrew | ||
| 103 | Richard Goldstein | 4.65 | JPL - 3rd | |
| 104 | Ria Dawar | 4.00 | JPL - 2nd | |
| 105 | Kristan Ellis | 13.45 | ||
| 106 | Paul MacNeal / Dogan Aykut | Withdrew | ||
| 107 | Austin DeShong | DQ - Did not complete task | Lightest and Smallest | |
| 108 | Jose Guzman | 25.90 | ||
| 109 | Hikmet Giray | Ethiopian Free Fall | DQ - Contact with device | |
| 110 | Yasin Giray | Robot Lucy (Ethiopia) | DQ - not balanced | |
| 111 | Yasin Giray | Abyssinian Inventors (Ethiopia) | DQ - Contact with device | |
| 113 | Miriam Cruz | No show | ||
| 114 | Scott Nolte | 2.38 | JPL - 1st | |
| 115 | Zhen Wu | Withdrew | ||
| 116 | John Wright | DQ - Did not complete task | ||
| 111 | Cleary Wong | Cata Throw | Withdrew |
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