Atlanta Sounds: Pumpkin Launch

Started in 2010, Southern Polytechnic State University’s pumpkin launch competition challenges students to build a device that will throw a pumpkin. From catapults to trebuchets, teams of students design and construct their own devices in an effort to launch a pumpkin in both distance and accuracy. Almost 230 students formed 26 teams for this recording from the 2013 launch.  

In this Atlanta Sounds, we meet Zachery Marr, a freshman engineering student. As the captain for team Tech’s Rebellion, Marr is responsible for overseeing all design and construction. He says that he’s built small scale trebuchets before, but “this is obviously much larger scale using 10 pound pumpkins and getting distances of up to 100 meters.”