Blackathon 2025 Reflection

On February 21st, 2025, I participated in the 3rd annual Blackathon. It is an innovation-based competition in which over a hundred young engineers and scholars of the like gather in groups of around five to tackle a fun design challenge.

Our challenge was to invent a "small and mighty device that stops accidents before they happen".

Once the beginning talks by the hosts were over, the competition began. And just like that, we were stuck.

Working with new people can be challenging. Our group of 5 consisted of students from 3 different schools. 2 of my teammates were texting on their phones, and 1 of them was watching Instagram. So, seeing it as an opportunity to take leadership, I tried getting the team into it. And, actually, it was pretty simple. I asked the others about their opinions, started brainstorming, and my teammates very quickly followed suit.

With that, we began generating ideas. I suggested that we start off by looking at the problem by its root. "What are accidents that happen around the world?". The ideas we had were plentiful, ranging from an ankle brace to prevent sprains, to a table attachment that protects from hitting an edge. Daniel, one of my teammates, had the idea that we all agreed on the most. That being an automatic massager that strapped to the arm to prevent muscle cramps.

And with that, came more hurdles. The materials we were given for this project didn't allow for such a complex creation, not even a prototype. But, stubbornly, we continued to try and come up with ideas for a design. As a group, we had very creative ideas, but making them come into fruition was completely different.

I have to admit that everyone in our group was feeling a little bit disheartened as the clock ticked. But, one of our teammates, Clara, suggested that we should move to a simpler, more feasible idea. She suggested the idea of a device that prevents cutting accidents in the kitchen. More specifically, one that guards the fingers so chopping food can become a more comfortable experience.

After that, time flew by. Ideating, gathering materials, and building was all much simpler. And in the end, we had finished something we were proud of, especially because it included everyone's ideas, meaning we had really worked like a team.

However, there was still one last thing to do. We had to present our invention, first to an official, then to a panel of judges, including none other than the special guest of the day, Brandon Sadler. An artist that has worked with Marvel Studios as an artist on the film "Black Panther".

In the little time we had, we organized a presentation in which all the group members talk about their contribution and the reason they thought of it.

The suspense that followed our presentation was like none other. We listened intently as the top 3 finishers who would get to move on to the final showcase in front of the panel judges were announced.

We didn't hear our name.

But, in a crazy, insane, astonishing twist, we were actually allowed on because of an error that was caught that had put us in 4th instead of 3rd.

And again, there was suspense. It felt excruciatingly long, waiting as our fellow competitors showed off their own finished products. And then we went up and did our thing.

A few minutes later, the judges had reached a verdict.

They announced 4th place, it wasn't us.

They announced 3rd place, it wasn't us.

And they announced 2nd place,

It wasn't us.

We had won 1st!!!!

In the end, it was not only extremely fun, but it was also a very unique learning experience. Not often do I get to go out and meet new people to compete in a creative design challenge. I think that this learning opportunity has better equipped me for future challenges, where I will meet and cooperate with new people.