Mines Students Celebrate Fall with Flying Pumpkins

At South Dakota Mines students are known for tackling some of the world's toughest challenges. But each fall, their creativity and engineering skills are put to the real test – who can launch pumpkins the farthest?

For nearly two decades, the university's CAMP teams have hosted the popular pumpkin catapult competition at the Great Downtown Pumpkin Festival. This year’s event is Saturday, Sept. 20, with the first-round launch beginning at 11 a.m. in Memorial Park.  The second round is at 1 p.m., with the final round at 3 p.m., followed by the announcement of winners.

Top teams will receive a cash prize donated by RESPEC, a global engineering consulting firm headquartered in Rapid City. The competition includes teams from local high schools.         

The annual event draws thousands of spectators who watch as each team showcases its student-built trebuchet, medieval-style catapults powered by gravity, that hurl pumpkins hundreds of feet into the air, competing for both distance and accuracy.

The team that comes closest to hitting 100-, 200- and 250-foot marks on the field wins the trophy and the cash prize. Mines students will also be on the field documenting each team’s distance, according to Darcy Briggs, Ph.D., associate vice president for academic affairs at Mines.

“Events like the pumpkin chuckin’ contests are a fun way to showcase engineering and spark interest in STEM,” Briggs said. “It’s also a great opportunity for the university to connect and support the community.”

Take a look at highlights from a past event here, and check out the full schedule of events for the Great Downtown Pumpkin Festival.