We hope all of you and your loved ones are safe and in the holiday spirits! Today we’re recapping what an amazing year it has been. 2022 was full of new cities, new challenges and new faces. It was a bustling year of activity and we enjoyed every minute of it.
As we welcome 2023, Tom Gray (Make48 CEO) looked back at the past year. "Post-Covid we are full steam ahead with new cities and new verticals being planned and released. The Make48 team pulled off 8 world-class events this year, while planning a full schedule for 2023. The relationships we have built with teams and makerspaces is something I continue to cherish, as the Maker movement continues to grow and make STEAM education more accessible and inclusive to all.”
Here are just a few of the highlights from our past season.
Photo Slider: 1. Milwaukee (Golda Girls) 2. Beloit (JumpStart) 3. Kansas City, KS (Wild Wings) 4. Madison (We fail fast) 5. North Little Rock (The fast and the curious) 6. Wichita (SweetTarts) 7. Indianapolis (GearHounds)
Filming At Nationals
Teams from the 2021 City Series returned to compete at the National competition in 2022. The teams were the top two winners from four regional competitions held in; Wichita, KS (Veni, Vidi, Vici and SuperVader), Madison, WI (The FreeWheelers and the Stainless Steel Badgers), Indianapolis, IN (The Mallorys and TheGrindery.org), and Hartford, CT (Magic Make and My Three Sons). The competition was held at GoCreate, a Koch Collaborative makerspace, with teams having to build a brand new idea for STEAM Toys. Teams did a great job but only The Mallorys walked away with the grand prize of $10K!
Make48 Heads Into 7 Cities
One of the highlights of the year was launching the City Series in a few more cities this year. Using the same blueprint of the Make48 TV documentary, residents in seven (7) cities participated in the fastest 48-hour invention competition. Tool Techs, mentors, volunteers and the community pitched in to aid the teams on their path to innovation and to create a working prototype for the challenge. Starting in June, Make48 headed to Wichita (Koch Industries: Community Gardening), Milwaukee (Harley-Davidson: Interactive Outdoor Play), Madison (Trek Bikes: Sustainable Mobility), Indianapolis (Corteva Agriscience: Food Preservation), North Little Rock (City of NLR: Trail of Tears), Beloit (City of Beloit: Outdoor Winter Activities) and Kansas City, KS (KSSB: Chickens in the Kitchen). The winning team from each city will meet in Kansas City at University of Missouri-Kansas City this spring (2023) to compete for the big prize at Nationals where one team will walk away with a custom-made trophy and a cash prize of $10,000!
It wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors, the tool techs, volunteers, local businesses and nonprofit organizations who helped these incredible teams to compete at Make48. Thank you for all the assistance and accommodations you’ve provided us with. We are looking forward to a great season with everyone again in 2023. Watch all of the ‘City Series’ highlights at https://www.youtube.com/@Make48/videos.
Season 5 Airing on PBS
This Fall, the 48-hour competition series returned for its fifth season on PBS.org and reached over 95% of US households on local PBS stations. STEAM toys was the 48-hour challenge. The final episode was aired and the winners were recently announced. A huge congratulations to The Mallorys from Purdue Polytech High School with their product "Don't Wet Your Pants!" After the announcement, Design Edge revamped the prototype for The Mallorys to share their STEAM toy idea to companies ie: Spin Master.
Looking Towards The Future
As we head into 2023, we are delighted to share the success of our series being featured on the new This Old House Makers Channel. This partnership has created a friendly environment of branding with our partners and sponsors, and gives us the ability to tell the story at each event in a more impactful way. Early next year Make48 will make an announcement on the future of Make48 episodes.
In recent news, Make48 is partnering together to bring a Maker-in-Residence to Operation Breakthrough. The unique opportunity will allow the Maker to work within their new makerspace, ``The Ignition Lab” and be the lead Tool Tech at Make48 events. The maker will play a role in teaching and mentoring students at Operation Breakthrough, preparing filming segments, setting up tools, and much more. This position can be found on the website https://www.make48.com/join-our-team
Make48 is bringing programming and competitions to some of the nation's most innovative cities and colleges. We’re looking forward to a busy and bright 2023, starting at Nationals at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) this spring! Seven teams will compete from March 31 - April 2nd, 2023. The theme won’t be released until next year, but the team is eagerly preparing for the big event! More information will be shared in early 2023.
Here are some of our favorite snapshots over the past year. We’ll be back in mid-January with some very exciting news for the upcoming year. In the meantime, we wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and Happy New Year!
Photo Slideshow from Make48 Events in 2022