A Decade of Innovation: The 2025 Make48 Year-End Recap

What a year 2025 has been! This year marked a massive milestone for us: Make48 celebrated its 10th Anniversary! For a decade, we have been celebrating innovation, makers, STEM-learning and the power of "doing." From new school partnerships to history-making events, here is a look back at the incredible moments that defined our year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Make48

2025 Highlights

We traveled across the country this year, bringing the 48-hour challenge to new communities and uncovering incredible talent. Each journey was captured by a film crew, bringing innovation in two exclusive episodes for Roku’s This Old House Makers Channel.

We kicked off our event season at the Vandermont School in Dallas. It was our first time in Texas for a regional event, and the students set a high bar for creativity right out of the gate. In May, we headed north to Minnesota State College Southeast in Winona. July brought us home to Kansas City for a truly special event at the Kansas City Art Institute. This was our first-ever ‘Women in STEM’ all-female competition! The collaboration was inspiring. The season wrapped up in November at Fishers Maker Playground. It was a fierce competition, but the Dream Makers took home the trophy, capping off an amazing season. 

Our mission to bring innovation into the classroom exploded this year. Across the nation, young minds were given a unique opportunity: to tackle real-world challenges and transform their ideas into tangible prototypes. After starting the Spring 2025 with a strong pilot cohort, the program exploded massively by the fall, reaching 911 students! Seeing students engage with hands-on problem solving in their own classrooms has been one of the most rewarding parts of our 10th year.

None of this is possible without the support of our incredible partners. Crafting a challenge for a 48-hour event requires time, strategy and dedication. We couldn’t have pulled it off without Corteva (Nationals), Fastenal (MN Southeast College) and Roofmaster and Signature Solar (Vandermont). 

We are so grateful to our bedrock sponsors who make the magic happen every single day—thank you for 10 years of belief in the maker spirit.

A Note from Leadership

As we close out this milestone year, Make48 co-founders Tom and Amy Gray took a moment to reflect on the community that makes these events possible.

"We want to recognize the incredible supporters, teams, and Tool Techs," Tom and Amy shared. “It takes courage, time and action to turn an idea into a reality. We are constantly inspired by the creativity and dedication of this community. A special thanks to our own Make48 team working behind the scenes to make it all happen and bring this 10th anniversary season to life. We are so excited for what 2026 holds!"

Happy Holidays from all of us here at Make48! We hope your holidays are safe and joyful. Here’s to the next 10 years of making – see you next year!