Ready to launch: Design competition challenges students to build a device that launches a foam football

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For many students, the end of a semester means a long exam or an even longer term paper. For Johns Hopkins first–year mechanical engineering students in the Intro to MechE Design & CAD course, it means launching a foam football as high into the air as possible.

But the final assignment isn't as simple as it sounds. Based on what they learned throughout the course, students spent three months designing, prototyping, and testing their launching devices. On Wednesday afternoon, 18 teams put these devices to the test in a single-elimination tournament in Hodson Hall.