»Make-a-Thon

The Chapman Make-a-Thon is an event where you can showcase your own tech or engineering project. The event is held yearly and is open to all Chapman students.

From steerable headlights to automated sign-language translation

Learn how previous Chapman students put their engineering skills to the test for Make-a-Thon, and how they presented their work to the judges.

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Dates and deadlines

Application Due	April 11, 2025
Students Present Projects to Make-a-Thon Committee for Qualification	April 25, 2025
Faculty Committee Approves and Drops Projects	April 28, 2025
Students practice Presentations with mentors	Week of May 5, 2025
Chapman Make-a-Thon	May 9, 2025

*Students will need to identify a faculty mentor. If that mentor is from outside the Fowler School of Engineering, another Fowler mentor will be assigned to them. Students presenting course projects may use their instructor as a faculty mentor.

A student designing a device for Make-a-Thon.

Awards

First place:$1,000
Second place:$500
Third place:$250
Honorable mention: $100

All students/teams selected to take part in the final round of Make-a-Thon will also receive a t-shirt.

Entrant requirements

Student (or project team of 2, 3 maximum) must demonstrate and present a project prototype (preferably working) that has been designed, constructed, and tested by the student only.

Presentation

A 8-minute PowerPoint must be presented discussing the project with the following slides:

Slide 1: The Project Objective – What is the intention of your idea? Who is the customer (user)
Slide 2: Customer Requirements – What are the design requirements for the innovation?
Slide 3: Ideation Overview – What ideas did you explore? What tools did you use to focus on the final solution?
Slide 4: Solution – A description of the solution and how it works
Slide 5: Budget - Provide a breakdown of funds used for the project
Slide 6: Future Improvements and Learnings – What can you improve in your design for the customer if you had more time?

A student presents their design at Make-a-Thon.

Judging criteria

The project scoring rubric consists of the following categories:

Concept development techniques.
Innovation.
Design process.
Project craftsmanship.
Demonstrated project effort.

Project funding

An ENGR101 Arduino kit will be provided to any groups that have not gotten one through the class (must be requested). Contact Assistant Director of Labs and Makerspace Vincent Vumbaco, vumbaco@chapman.edu, to request your kit.
All groups are permitted to use up to $100 worth of materials and electronic components stocked by the DCI Lab (excluding ENGR101 kit electronics).
Any additional funding requests, including those of items not in stock, must be submitted to the Project Grant form with a list of items to purchase and justification.