Dozens of spectators gathered behind a tall fence to watch the teams in action. Students wore goggles as they prepared their launchers, while members of the university’s safety team supervised.
Barbara Klinkhammer, dean of the college, which was just formed in July after a reorganization of the university, said that the event encapsulates the university’s focus on “collaboration across disciplines.”
“You can see that spark when the students are working together, and you have an engineering student working with an architecture student together to work one of these catapult machines,” she said.
The winners of Thomas Jefferson University’s inaugural punkin chunkin contest, “Liability Launchers,” prepare their machine for launch on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (Emily Neil/WHYY)
The challenge also gives students the opportunity to apply classroom learning to a tangible challenge.
But for Charlotte Wilson, a 22-year-old senior in industrial design, signing up was “just kind of for fun.”
“We just like building things, so it’s really nice to have an excuse to do something, especially when something is being thrown,” said Wilson, one of four students on the winning team, “Liability Launchers,” who took home $500 and a trophy.
Braeden Escobar, a sophomore in architecture, signed up with Evan Franco, a sophomore majoring in construction management, for similar reasons.
“I just said, ‘You know what? That seems like fun,’” he said. “Got nothing better to do, so why not put the engineering to the test?”
Franco said when Escobar asked him to be on a team he agreed. “I was bored,” Franco said.
Evan Franco, left, and Braeden Escobar, right, prepare their pumpkin-launching contraption ahead of Thomas Jefferson University’s inaugural contest. (Emily Neil/WHYY)
The duo constructed a trebuchet using a 240-pound counterweight. Escobar said the hardest part was translating knowledge on the page into the real world.
“The theory was not difficult at all. The practice is fairly difficult,” he said.
Klinkhammer said the college plans to build on the event and invite high schools and students from other higher education institutions to participate in future editions.