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Student Engineering Council is back with Makeathon! Participate in a design competition where teams of 3-5 work together and generate a creative engineering solution/prototype to a problem that they will present to a panel of judges for a chance to win a cash prize! All equipment and supplies will be provided as well as meals throughout the event. Participants (at least 1 team member) will need to acquire equipment training through Texas Inventionworks prior to the event (Login with your UT EID in top right corner).You can either sign up as a team, or as an individual and be placed on a team. All majors are welcome to compete, but the majority of members on a team must be engineering majors. Sign-ups are now closed. No prior experience necessary!
This year, you can either sign up as a team or as an individual and be placed on a team. All majors are welcome to compete but the majority of members on a team must be engineering majors.
At Friday’s Kickoff, teams will meet, the prompts will be unveiled, and the competition will begin! There will also be free food and exclusive Makeathon t-shirts! Come back Saturday morning to begin working with your team on your creative engineering solution/prototype. Presentations and Judging will begin Saturday evening, and champions will be crowned Saturday night!
The week of October 17th-20th, SEC will host various workshops for participants to learn about CAD & 3D Printing, Arduino & coding, workshopping/prototyping, teamwork, etc. so that everyone can be ready for the weekend competition! Teams and individuals earn extra supply credits for attending workshops.
You don’t want to miss out on this opportunity! There will be cash prizes, free swag, and free food all day, plus a chance to collaborate with other students to create a solution that can change the world.
What is Makeathon?
Makeathon is a yearly weekend competition hosted by the Student Engineering Council at The University of Texas at Austin. Teams of three to five students must compete to create and pitch to a panel of judges their creative engineering solution/prototypes that respond to relevant challenges in today’s society. Curated for students seeking to change the world, Makeathon enables students to gain pertinent problem solving, innovation, entrepreneurial, teamwork, and presentation skills.
Safety Deposit: Upon confirmation, a safety cash deposit fee of $5 will be required to hold your spot in Makeathon. At the completion of the event, if you participated throughout the event, your safety deposit fee will be returned to you!
Deposits can be submitted to the SEC Office (EER 2.618) in the EER Org Space between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM on weekdays. Please place your safety cash deposit in an envelope with your full name written. This must be completed at the latest by 5PM Friday, October 14th.
Waitlist: Makeathon participant slots are on a first-come, first-serve basis and are capped at 75 participants. If we exceed 75 sign-ups, you will be placed on a waitlist and have a chance to compete if other students drop.
Kickoff
Date: Friday, October 21st, 2022
Time: Check in begins at 5:30pm. Kickoff is from 6pm-8:15pm, and will include Dinner and Opening Ceremony
Location: EER
Competition Day
Date: Saturday, October 22nd, 2022
Time: 8am-9pm (Judging starts at 5:30pm)
Location: EER Texas InventionWorks
WAITLISTED? IF AN INDIVIDUAL (EVEN IF SIGNED UP WITH A TEAM) DOES NOT PAY DEPOSIT, YOU WILL BE MOVED OFF THE WAITLIST! You’ll be informed by Thursday 10/20 5pm. You’re still welcome to attend our workshops!
If you have any questions, contact us at activities@sec.engr.utexas.edu
Before You Attend Makeathon:
Complete Inventionworks Trainings
Training is required to use the equipment at Texas Inventionworks (TIW). TIW is located on Floors 0 and 1 in the National Instruments Student Project Center inside the EER. Their operating hours are M-F from 12-8pm.
- One person in each team must be 3D Printer certified and Laser Cutter certified by Texas Inventionworks prior to Kickoff
- Note – This does not have to be the same person (one team member gets certified for 3D printing and a different member can get certified for the laser cutters).
- We STRONGLY suggest you do this training as soon as possible. Do not wait until the last day as you may not be able to find an appointment with Inventionworks to complete your certification.
- For all in-person training, you must have the online portion completed first!!!
3D Printing Training
- Visit texasinventionworks.com
- Click on the Login button in the top right corner.
- Login with your UT EID.
- Once back on the homepage, select the training icon on the left side of the screen. This looks like a dumbbell.
- Under Step 1, there is a link to find the updated training. Do NOT complete the training that is on the TIW website, this link should take you to their new Canvas page.
- Enroll in the Canvas page.
- Watch ALL of the videos under 3D Printing , and answer the questions as prompted.
- Once your online training is submitted, visit TIW during open hours (12-8pm M-F) and ask a staff member (wearing an apron) for in person 3D printer training. You will be tested on critical operational knowledge from the online videos and questions. Bring your computer! In-person training takes only 30 min!
Laser Cutting Training
- Visit texasinventionworks.com
- Click on the Login button in the top right corner.
- Login with your UT EID.
- Once back on the homepage, select the training icon on the left side of the screen. This looks like a dumbbell.
- Under Step 1, there is a link to find the updated training. Do NOT complete the training that is on the TIW website, this link should take you to their new Canvas page.
- Enroll in the Canvas page.
- Watch ALL the videos pertaining to Laser Cutting, and answer the questions as prompted.
- Once your online training is submitted, navigate back to the trainings page
- On the right hand side of the screen (under in-person training), hit the BOOK NOW! button.
- Select Laser Cutter In-Person Training and book a time. In-person training takes only 30 min!
Due to limited in-person laser cutting training, there will be group training for it available on Thursday, 10/20 at 8pm. If no one on your team is certified and no one can make it to this group training, please let us know ASAP at activities@sec.engr.utexas.edu so that we can make further accommodations.
Any specific questions about TIW trainings should be asked in person at Texas Inventionworks.
Attend Workshops
- Attending the Workshops is not required, but is HIGHLY ENCOURAGED
- Participants will have the opportunity to learn tips and tricks from experienced upperclassmen that span all different parts of the design process
- Teams will receive 10 resource credits per team member who attends the workshop (capped at 30 credits maximum for each workshop). These credits can be spent on additional supplies during the competition!
Monday, Oct 17th — HOW TO ARDUINO Workshop — 5-6pm — CPE 2.218
- Hosted by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
- Participants will learn about the different electronics and sensors that they will be able to incorporate into their prototypes!
- Instructions:
Tuesday, Oct 18th — HOW TO CAD Workshop — 6-7pm — ETC 2.114
- Hosted by American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
- Participants will learn the basics of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and how to translate it into a physical product
- Instructions:
If you need any assistance downloading any of this software, please contact us at activities@sec.engr.utexas.edu
Wednesday, Oct 19th — HOW TO ENTREPRENEUR Workshop — 7-8pm– ETC 2.114
- Hosted by University Management and Business Research Association (Umbra)
- Participants will learn about the basics of entrepreneurship and business practices. Prepare to learn about how to sell a product and present it to a judge!
Thursday, Oct 20th — HOW TO DESIGN Workshop — 6-7:30pm — Idea Lab (in Inventionworks)
- Hosted by Texas Inventionworks (TIW)
- Participants will learn the design process and how to bring all the components covered in previous workshops to create a product!
Mini Challenges
Along with the main prototyping challenge, you will have opportunities to gain resource credits throughout Makeathon by completing mini challenges. Although these challenges are optional, we highly encourage you to complete/attend as many as you can!
3D Keychain Challenge
In a 3D modeling software of your choice, design and 3D print a keychain with your team name or acronym on it.
***This is an asynchronous challenge, so feel free to print this at Texas Inventionworks throughout this week or during Makeathon, if you have some free time. Show it to the Resources team during Makeathon for 20 resource credits.
More challenges will be announced at Makeathon!
Continue checking this page for more updates!
2022 Awards!
1st Place – $500
Undecided: Yoonseo Lee, Elliot Turner, Heran Patel
2nd Place – $300
Sons of Y: Evan Segura, Christos Psaropoulos, Nicholas Gab, Emi Martinez, Alejandro Villasenor
3rd Place – $200
Team 10: Sebastian Alatorre, Gloria Huan, Sihi Rao