Makeathon 2016
Set for March 5 and 6 at Knowlton Hall, Makeathon is made possible by student organizations Electronics Club at Ohio State, IEEE Undergraduate, the Amateur Radio Club, the Maker Club, and is held in conjunction with OHI/O and silver sponsors Harris Corporation and Battelle.
As student co-organizer Eric Bauer said, the extent of this collaboration, spanning across many different student engineering organizations, is new to the event. He hopes it adds a sense of consistency to their efforts moving forward.
"We are now able to coordinate resources and experience between incorporated student organizations," he said.
Makeathon 2015 featured dozens of students bringing to life wildly creative technical inventions in just 24 sleepless hours – laser musical instruments, drones, a custom pancake printer and even a remote-controlled video camera robot with head goggles. Watch a short video and find some photos from the event HERE.
Besides, the new partnership with OHI/O, Beauer said, organizers have also expanded entries this year to include students from other universities. He said feedback from the 2015 event has also fueled plans for a shortened judging process, as well as more prizes and take-home gifts.
"The prize pool has doubled from last year. We have stronger ranked prizes for first, second and third, which include Raspberry Pi 2 kits, robot goodies and wi-fi development hardware. We also have more categorical prizes so teams can win for having the best lighting project or best use of analog or something equally cool. We even have a category for best documentation that will be awarded a week after the event. Our goal with this is to increase the archival rate for the great projects we see and reward good documentation," Bauer said. "Too often we let classes dictate the amount of time we spend being creative.
He also stressed the importance of having an outlet such as Makeathon, something that gives engineering students a chance to test their skills and branch out.
"Use this Makeathon weekend to make something amazing with friends and let your imaginations run wild," Bauer said.
For students looking to participate this year, first register HERE, and then plan to arrive at Makeathon 2016 with the goal of creating something new, amazing, and fun with a group of friends.
Participants don’t need a team, any hardware experience, or even materials when they show up – just a basic desire for free food, the chance to win over $1,000 in prizes, and a readiness to chat with potential future employers, faculty and alumni.
Let’s make something incredible.
WHAT: Makeathon 2016 at The Ohio State University
WHEN: Saturday, March 5 to Sunday, March 6
Highlighted media opportunities (stay tuned as this page will be updated):
March 5, TBA: Teams check-in, organizers and sponsors deliver welcome remarks and instructions, and teams start hacking
March 5, TBA: Nearing halfway point of competition, projects underway
March 6, TBA: Final showcase, winners announced, inventions displayed, prizes awarded, and organizers and sponsors deliver closing remarks
WHERE: Knowlton Hall, 275 W. Woodruff Ave. Columbus, OH. 43210
ONLINE: http://make-oh.io | http://hack.osu.edu | http://twitter.com/@HackOhio | www.facebook.com/hackohio