MyMachine USA pulled off their 3rd successful MyMachine cycle! The first stateside chapter, MyMachine USA, is in its third year encouraging students across the United States to think creatively and develop solutions to challenges they face in everyday life.
Elementary students invent their dream machine
In the 2023-24 academic year, MyMachine USA partnered with two elementary schools, Linton Elementary in Indiana and Montclair Kimberley Academy in New Jersey. During the fall of 2023, they held an ideation day where the elementary students drew, sketched and decided which dream machines to produce. This year’s final selections were:
- Baseball Pitcher: For practicing their baseball swing when their parents were not available to pitch to them.
- Shape Shifter Cookie Roller: To simplify the combining, rolling, cutting and embossing of dough.
- Speedy Dose Medicine Dispenser: To take medicine in a memorable and fun way.
- Boost Buddy Stair Helper: For reaching objects in high places.
- Glasserator: For fixing or repurposing broken glass.
University students design
In January and February 2024, Indiana University design students in the comprehensive design class were broken up into teams of three and assigned to make plans and prototypes for a machine. Junior-year design students Hannah Smith, Christie Nguyen and Peyton Mosley worked on the Glasserator. “The kids wanted a box they could put broken glass in and it would come out restored,” Smith said. “We wanted to steer them away from fixing glass to something more like a creative art project. However, their main goal was to save glass, and they said it was OK for the Glasserator to create something new. So, our design team steered the elementary students into a different direction that was more possible to achieve.” With the final prototype, users can put glass shards in an enclosed box and combine them with resin in a mold, ultimately making a piece of art.
The design students learned a lot through the experience and said they feel more prepared to launch their careers. “MyMachine allowed me to understand how to work with clients and be more realistic about who I’m designing for,” Nguyen said. “I gained a real-life understanding of what projects may be like in the future.”
Technical secondary students fabricate
Middleton High School students in Wisconsin fabricated the machines in March and April in their Design and Fabrication course. Working with particular clients often means the design process is more iterative than straightforward. Learning how to navigate that was a valuable lesson for Mosley: “I learned how to better interpret and integrate the varying critiques, which was a little difficult,” Mosley said. “Receiving critiques from so many different perspectives helped me become a better designer. In most of our classwork, I think we emphasize function and focus less on appearance and buildability, whereas MyMachine emphasized all three.”
Students from Quincy Millerjohn’s Design and Fabrication II course at Middleton High School in Wisconsin, fabricated the machines in March and April. The baseball pitcher crew liked the prototype idea of the backboard as a baseball glove, however, they felt the net was interfering with successful playability. As a result, they made a curved trough to catch the ball instead. “One of the things we thought was challenging for us, was getting all the angles right on it to make sure the ball bounces in, but it ended up doing pretty well and it was a fun project,” said Zach G., who worked on the pitcher.
Big Reveals
When the machines were ready, MyMachine USA organized a big reveal at the respective elementary schools in May. At Linton Elementary, students eagerly waited to see what became of the Baseball Pitcher, Speedy Dose Medicine Dispenser and Boost Buddy Stair Helper. In New Jersey, the students got to see how their sketches for a Glasserator and Shape Shifter Cookie Roller were actualized.
“The kids loved it, great positive energy,” said Yungjin Oh, head of the primary school for Montclair Kimberley Academy. “We have a summer grant to work on MyMachine involving the art, math, science and first-grade educators. It is going to be a cross-curriculum project, which will be beneficial for student learning.”
Here’s a video from one of the Big Reveal moments:
Preparing the next cycle
Now, heading into its fourth year of operation in the 2024-25 academic year, Adam Maltese and Jon Racek are excited about the program’s future and hope to expand. “This year MyMachine USA’s footprint was in three states, and we hope to find support so we can broaden its reach in the Hoosier state and the country,” Jon said.
“We made changes over the years and have learned to hang back as much as possible and let the experience be driven by the students,” Adam said. “It’s been interesting to see how the ideas and interpretations merge with skillset and creativity. The students take ownership of the process, and I’m excited to see how this opportunity inspires them to shape the future.”
Thank you so much to all students and educators involved! And many thanks to our amazing MyMachine USA team led by Adam Maltese and Jon Racek!
pictures courtesy of David Kennan Photography.
Here’s a great article on MyMachine USA’s Big Reveal:
