No tricks, just treats and engineering feats at 37th annual WVU Pumpkin Drop

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Gourd vibes were everywhere at the annual West Virginia University Pumpkin Drop.

Sponsored by the WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering and the WVU chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, this year’s event included 276 registered teams from schools across West Virginia and Pennsylvania with more than 1,000 K-12 students in attendance.

Scott Wayne, the faculty advisor of the WVU ASME student chapter, kicked off the event by dropping the first pumpkin without a mechanism. This demonstrated the challenge that participating teams faced when they had to apply engineering principles to action and think strategically and creatively about how their teams chose to protect their pumpkins from the fall.

“Critical thinking and problem-solving skills are the building blocks that allow engineers, scientists, physicists, medical doctors, and other professionals to develop solutions to the challenges we face in society and throughout our lives,” Wayne said.

“Hands-on activities like the Pumpkin Drop give these K-12 students an opportunity to apply the principles of math and science, such as the concepts of gravity, terminal velocity, and impact, to design a device that will slow their pumpkin’s descent and protect it from the impact of hitting the ground. It also encourages the students to think of innovative ideas to solve a complex problem.”

Of the 276 pumpkins dropped from the roof of the Engineering Sciences Building on the Evansdale area of campus, only 23 survived the 11-story fall.

Each of the teams was tasked with creating an enclosure for a pumpkin with a minimum diameter of 10 inches and a maximum weight of 50 pounds to protect it during its descent.

Team 122 from Norwin High School in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, earned first place by landing its intact pumpkin 1 foot from the target. West Virginia teams were close behind. Second place went to Team 7 from East Fairmont Middle School with a target distance of 7 feet 10 inches. Finally, in a tie, Teams 86 and 246 from Mountaineer Middle School and John Marshall High School placed third after landing their pumpkins 11 feet 5 inches from the target.

Flying pumpkins weren’t the only attraction to see. The event offered live demonstrations from STEM-based student organizations, competition teams and clubs. Participants experienced maneuvering a four-legged robot, photo opportunities in the WVU Formula SAE car and with WVU Mountaineer mascot Reese Allen, a life-sized Operation game and the chance to learn about WVU robotics from the University Rover Challenge Team.

“In a world where almost anything can be seen online or created with generative AI, real-world STEM demonstrations and activities are becoming really important. It’s impressive to see the latest engineering innovations on social media, but it’s entirely different to stand next to that robot, aircraft, or race car, and meet the people responsible for designing and building it,” Ian Long, president of the WVU ASME chapter, said.

“On a smaller scale, events like the annual WVU Pumpkin Drop allow young students interested in STEM to meet the members of WVU clubs and engineering capstone programs, showing them how they could create their own innovations in the future.”

Even with success come learning opportunities for students.

“I feel like everybody contributed a lot and it helped us be so close,” Elijah Coleman and Kennleigh Cochran, students from Team 54 from West Fairmont Middle School, said.

“This is such a fun experience. We had a lot of fun creating this and testing out different things. We had to test our parachute and research a lot. I think I would try to make the box a little bit bigger. The one worked, but if we had just a little bit more space to pack things underneath, I think that would have helped.”

Each team had its own unique tactics on how to tackle the 11-story plunge. The strategy the first-place team used was surprising to everyone.

“We kind of procrastinated. We really didn’t start until about two nights ago, pulled an all-nighter last night, got it done, and, you know, we got the results,” said Jaxson Momeyer.

To make this a true WVU experience, each year the event coordinators explore opportunities to collaborate with other WVU units. This year, from the WVU College of Creative Arts and Media, Emily Jack, a theatre design and technology student, constructed the target and Liam Duval, an art and design student, designed the T-shirts commemorating the event.

All proceeds from registration will benefit the Ronald McDonald House Morgantown.

Watch this year’s Pumpkin Drop on YouTube.