2015 October Projects
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It’s nearing that time of the year when new Janksters members choose their committees! To help them decide, our October Project this year divided the team into 6 different groups, including both rookies and veterans.
They were challenged by only having three weeks to build a machine that shot either a tennis ball, ping-pong ball, or hacky sack from a table to anywhere from four to eight feet away. The teams were given freedom with their projects, exposing themselves to and using various mechanisms, as well as power sources.
The Janksters were off to a good start by collectively brainstorming and analyzing the possible benefits and weaknesses of their ideas. Teams would then move on to prototyping, which would help them fully visualize their plans and fix any problems that they encountered along the way. These prototypes ended up becoming some groups’ final machines due to time constraints, an excellent reminder for the upcoming Build Season, but others built another shooter that amalgamated their previous experiences.
The final portion of the October Projects was an oral presentation in front of all Jankster members. In this, each group discussed their team and project name, the brainstorming and prototyping procedure, the build process, details about the mechanisms involved, challenges they faced, things that they learned, and finally, changes they would make if they were to do the project again.
Each team worked superbly with many unique approaches toward their problems. The October Project participants believe it was a very successful project that helped rookies through enforcing as well as teaching them new skills, solidifying their decision of which committee/s they would like to be in, and bonding them further with veterans. Through the October Project, students who had forgotten about the Build Season process or had never been through the stimulating six weeks before, were able to prepare both mentally and physically for the exciting game that is to come.