JPL Annual Invention Challenge - 2022

On a pleasant day with no wind, the 2022 JPL Invention Challenge was held last Friday on the 180 Mall with more than 300 spectators and participants. This year’s contest objective was to create a device that could strike a maximum of five small rubber balls and cause them to move towards the targets as defined in the rules. Points were awarded for successfully completing each target. The winner was the team whose device receives the highest point total.

A total of 20 school teams and 5 JPL teams came up with different ways to accomplish this task. One JPL sponsored team came from Colorado. The device concepts were varied such as springs, elastic tubing, air compressors, drill motors, and gravity assist. The results can be found in the attached spreadsheet and later in the week can be found on the JPL website located at https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/jpl-and-the-community/team-competitions/invention-challenge. The winning entry from Oakwood School (Team Rose) received a perfect score of 190 points in the fast time of 23 seconds.

My congratulations go out to everyone who worked on this challenging problem and a special thanks goes out to the team from Colorado that made the long journey to JPL.

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 Kim Johansen, for collecting the entry forms and video release forms and processing more than 250 student badges for all of the student teams. I also wish to acknowledge the talented work performed by Kyle Zada for being the master of ceremonies for his first time and Dominick Bendinelli who was acknowledged by the Lead Security Guard as having performed well as an Area Patroller.