Participants of the event, hosted by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers at MSU, operated within a time limit. They were only allotted certain materials, such as plywood sheets, wood planks, tennis balls and PVC pipes.

The teams also were allowed to incorporate parts of the IM-Sports West turf arena structure into their designs.

After the time limit, teams received three tries and their machines were judged on the number of energy changes, the amount of sections, the length of time the task took and the incorporation of a unique item.

Civil engineering junior David Hayden and his team’s machine was initiated by a person atop a human pyramid dropping a ball into a series of gradients triggering a sequence designed to eventually ring a bell.

Although the machine hit snags and the bell was never rung, Hayden said the event was an enjoyable end to a long week.

“This was a busy week, so it was really nice to come out here and just have some fun,” Hayden said. “Literally the whole time we were building this we were laughing … so it was just a really fun idea to come out and spend four hours on a Friday.”

John Pasko, a member of the society and mechanical engineering senior, said they hold the event with the purpose of giving fellow engineers relief from school and work stress. It’s an event that’s been running four or five years, Pasko said.

“It’s always been a staple of Engineering Week,” he said. “During the week we have career fairs and more formal events and this is kind of a way to unwind from all that and just have a dress-down, casual kind of enjoyable event you can finish off the week with.”

Also attending the event was alumnus and former president of the society Peter Dolce. The event is the largest the society holds.

“This is the biggest event we put on,” Dolce said. “We get a lot of sponsors donating specifically to this. It’s great to see people in their element and having a good time.”