This past week, FIT’s Pre-Engineering students completely altered the expectation for what a mouse trap is supposed to be used for. Given three days to research and construct their mouse trap vehicles, students put their creativity to the test in a head-to-head race.
Pre-Engineering Instructor Scott McDaniel said, “The winner was the vehicle that obtained the greatest linear distance on any one of three attempts they got.”
During the contest, they used the smooth, flat hallway as the course for their cars, so there weren’t any advantages for their vehicles.
The engineers were limited to the amount of building materials they had at their disposal. The material list consisted of cardboard, glue, duct tape, string, fishing line, wire rode, popsicle sticks, rubber bands, pens, balloons, scissors, CD’s, measuring tools, paper clips, and a mouse trap.
McDaniel told his students, “Follow the regulations carefully; if not, your car will be disqualified.”
The vehicles were powered by a single mouse trap measuring 1-¾ inches. The mouse trap could not be physically altered except for two modifications. Holes could be drilled to mount the trap to the frame, and the mouse trap’s snapper arm was allowed to be cut and lengthened.
After the students raced their cars, they judged their results and realized what they could have done differently to get the extra edge on their competition. Students were very critical of their work.
Dylan B. said “This project makes you brainstorm, get creative, and think hard about what you are doing. But at the same time, it is super fun, and getting to see your work and creativity payoff is worth it.”
The students really enjoyed working together and being able to share ideas with one another throughout the process of building their cars. Although not every car won, it was a really good learning experience for the students. They got to face trial and error, just like they would in the world of engineering. Just because it was a toy car doesn’t mean that the same aspects don’t apply for real engineering.
In the end, Hanna F. and Elijah H. teamed up for the win.
“We didn’t expect to win when we lined up the cars, but as the competition went on, we began to gain more confidence in our design,” said Elijah H.
Along with that, they experienced teamwork and brainstorming together. They realized how much more you can get done whenever you take multiple ideas from different people and put them together. The opportunities are truly endless.
