Wichita, KS
Video Credit: Visit Wichita
Challenge Sponsor:
Impact Report
Challenge Theme
Sustainability & Environmental Stewardship:
Doing More with Less
What happened in Wichita? Watch these!
Lunch with a sign that it was donated
Amy Gray and 3 volunteers at the Make48 registration table
Photo of team member from Andover Caps
Lunch with a sign that it was donated
Join us at this incredible event, hosted in the areas premier makerspace!
Make48 is a 48-hour competition where teams are given a challenge, must build a physical prototype, sales sheet, and a 1-minute marketing video, and then pitch it to judges. The twist is that we have tool technicians and access to a Makerspace full of equipment and tools to help the teams build almost anything their imaginations can come up with to solve the challenge. Collaboration is the key to success. First place team wins $2000 and advances to the nationals in March 2022.
In real life, everyone has big ideas, but only about 5% have the skills either physically or digitally to make a prototype. To build anything you need collaboration, often many different materials and various pieces of equipment to finish a product. Make48 allows this process to be achieved under a timed, fun, fast-moving, and educational event!
GoCreate, A Koch Collaborative is an 18,000 sq. ft. creative community makerspace open to all ages and experiences – artists and engineers alike. GoCreate features textiles, woodworking and metals studios with sophisticated, expert training and a supportive community to help make prototypes, projects and dreams come true.
Event Date: June 24-26, 2021
Team Application
The spirit of innovation is a part of all of us. We're looking for your team to compete in Wichita now! If selected from the applications, you will be required to attend a Casting Call on the morning of April 24th at GoCreate. First place team wins $2000 and advances to the nationals in March 2022. Applications have now CLOSED!
Sponsor This Event
We need your help...get in on the spirit of innovation and engage with your community by sponsoring.
Be a Tool-Tech
The heart of this competition is collaboration. Provide your talents during this event as a Tool-Tech.
I Can Volunteer
The energy of these events is contagious. Don't want to compete but would love to help?
Our Proud Sponsors
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Media Partners
Who's Making in Wichita
Instagram:
@izzyswan_woodworking
YouTube:
@izzyswan
TikTok:
@izzyswan21
Instagram:
@crowcreekdesigns
YouTube:
@jesscrow
Facebook:
@jess.crowcreek
Instagram:
@jameswesleyfurniture
YouTube:
@jameswesleymakes
Facebook:
@jameswesleyfurniture
Meet the Teams
Andover CAPS
Hayden, Trevor & Seth
Trevor recently attended Andover Central High School & attended their CAPS program within the engineering strand. Trevor is planning on majoring in engineering because he enjoys math and science, AND the idea of design.
Hayden is a senior at Andover High School. He’s attending Kansas State University to study Mechanical Engineering and pursue his master's in business administration.
Seth is the engineering instructor at Andover Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS). CAPS is a unique program that allows high school students to gain experience, develop skills, and complete real world projects in their career field of interest. He’s passionate about the engineering design process and the tools and techniques to turn ideas into reality.
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Baby Cactus
Grant, Jerome (not pictured Juan & Katie)
Katie is a senior in Engineering Technology and Business at Wichita State University where she is developing skills in mathematics, programming, communication, and engineering practices. She plans to use these skills to contribute to an innovative engineering company capable of making a significant difference in lives around the world.
Grant is 18 years old and has a background in programming and engineering. He originally got his start in video game development and later took those same coding skills to robotics, artificial intelligence and such. He’s looking to make a difference in the world one day.
Jerome is originally from Penang, Malaysia. He worked as an R&D engineer for the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University. Jerome enjoys participating in research projects, particularly fundamental study, developing process and simulation models and finding solutions to engineering problems.
Juan is a Computer Science student at Wichita State University and is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He enjoys learning new things and is working towards his degree. Juan works at the university in the Campus Recreation Center, loves to play basketball and hang out with friends.
ICT Design Team
David, Jan, Amy & Matt
David owns Fowler Woodworking, which specializes in designing and building quality hand-built furniture. He loves the creative process. David volunteers with his son Matt Fowler’s Boy Scout group and is a published author in woodworking magazines.
Jan is the Chief Financial Officer & Assistant Museum Director at the Wichita Art Museum. She stays busy watching son Matt participate in sports. In her spare time, Jan enjoys tennis, bicycling, and playing piano.
Matt is 16 years old and is in the East High International Baccalaureate (IB) program. He is a member of the East varsity swimming and tennis teams. This summer Matt is busy working as a lifeguard at the YMCA and finishing his Boy Scout Eagle Scout rank.
Amy works as a Senior Financial Management Analyst at the City of Wichita. In her spare time, Amy enjoys tennis, bicycling, and kayaking. She also volunteers weekly in the pre-K Sunday School class at NewSpring Church.
Quivira Council Scouting!
Jace, Ben, Jared & Sam
Sam is a 16 year old junior in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program at Wichita East High School, a comprehensive and rigorous college-preparatory program. He is currently working on his Eagle Scout Project and hopes to major in engineering or computer science after high school.
Jace graduated from Bishop Carroll Catholic High School in 2021. During his senior year he solved a problem, invented a new product and started his own company. VeloSound LLC sells a 3D printed accessory for the Peloton bike that redirects sound back to the rider. He plans to attend WSU in the fall and major in mechanical engineering and business.
Jared is 15 years old and completing his Freshman year of High School. He’s home-schooled and the oldest of five children. Jared is a Life Scout, working on completing the Eagle rank soon. He loves marketing, design, robotics and creating videos. Jared is considering a career in the field of engineering in the future.
Ben is a Junior at Maize South High School where he’s enrolled in multiple honors classes. One of his creative outlets is the Vex Robotics team where he builds, designs and tests the team's robots. He also just finished a project for his Eagle scout rank where he led the design and construction of a protective outdoor enclosure for a local no-kill animal rescue.
Team DropTables
Punk, John & Tom
Pankaja (Punk) originally moved to Wichita in 2015 for college, Pankaja (or Punk to friends) is an engineer at Filimin, a local start-up that invented Friendship Lamps. He's had a life-long fascination with how things work and wants to over-engineer and optimize everything from his workout routine to his morning coffee.
John has spent most of his professional career as a violinist. His recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons has been featured as one of the best sounds available on Wikipedia. John has also worked as an electrical engineer and as faculty in Engineering and Music. In December 2014 John invented Friendship Lamps and founded Filimin to make them in Wichita. Filimin has more than 30 employees and sold more than 200,000 Friendship Lamps worldwide.
Tom has been the techno wizard fix-it guy for several small businesses over the last 40 years. He’s mostly focused on developing industrial and consumer electronic products but has also extended himself into teaching innovation in engineering at Wichita State University and co-founding Wichita's community maker space MakeICT. Tom is a very hands on guy, who likes to work with people to make great things.
SuperVader
Travis, Bill, Jagger & Quentin
Travis is the Director of Sales and Marketing for a beverage and food distributor in Kansas. For the last 10 years, he’s been responsible for creating and implementing their marketing plan and materials to take products to the consumer. Travis is the proud father of two and has been a musician for 30+ years.
Bill has been married to his wife, Chellie for 26 years and has two children. Currently Bill is an employee at Spirit AeroSystems, Inc., where he's worked as a calibration technician for last 14 years. Bill is a retired, disabled Veteran who proudly served the United States Air Force for 21 years between active duty and the Air National Guard.
Jagger Dobosz has been with his amazing wife Amber for 20 years and their daughter Kaydn is a film student at NYU. Jagger works as a operations analyst at Spirit AeroSystems and is an avid musician. He spent years as a carpenter before Spirit and still enjoys creating projects at home that challenges his design/build skills.
Quentin Cox is the youngest of the group at 20 years old, and is currently working at Amazon. Quentin is looking for a different job in his field of study at school, where he’s currently a student at WSUTech and working on his degree in Engineering Design. He really enjoys creating things and coming up with ideas while always trying to solve problems.
Veni, Vidi, Vici
Rafael & Felipe
Veni, Vidi, Vici is a Latin phrase that translates to “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Meet the team members who plan to conquer the competition.
Rafael has a Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s degree from the Santa Catarina State University (Brazil) and is pursuing a Mechanical Engineering Master of Science degree at Wichita State University. Rafael is passionate about applying engineering concepts to create solutions for real problems. Awarded with several innovation competition prizes, Leite was able to launch his first tech startup in 2019.
Felipe is an undergraduate junior majoring in Mechanical Engineering, at Wichita State University. Felipe is eager to learn different things and always uses his own experience and/or advice from other people to solve the problem the best way possible. Felipe has been awarded first place in different competitions such as, robotics, innovation, entrepreneurship. Today he runs an online business selling products and is looking forward to finding an internship opportunity as a Mechanical Engineer.