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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.

Name Position
Paul MacNeal Organizer
Dudee Chiang General Helper
Sherry Stukes Escort
Allison Lenhard Escort
Stewart Sherrit Foreign National Escort
Max Coleman Recording Secretary
Chris Landry Referee
Kyle Zada Announcer
Wilson Yeh Check-in
Cassie Smith Check-in
Allison Ayad Check-in
Kristine Babaian Safety
Mike Verdin Timer
Perry Ramsey Timer
Leslie Heid Bouncing Ball Retriever
Michael Seggebruch Bouncing Ball Retriever
Anna Shepard Field Judge 1
Elham Maghsoudi Field Judge 2
Cassie Smith Scorekeeper
Allison Ayad Scorekeeper
Alessio Mancini Area Patroller
Dominic Bendinelli Area Patroller
Mineh Badalians Area Patroller
Ken Hurst Set - up helper
Shaun Ryan Set - up helper
Shaun Ryan Clean up Helper
Rain Zhou Photographer
Charles Ou Photographer
Steve Nelson Judge
Wayne Smith Judge
Adam Woods Judge
Jonathan Lopez Judge
Volunteers for the 2022 JPL Annual Invention Challenge
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