ARC MAGAZINE

Imagine accomplishing more in two days than in an entire year. That’s what Make48 inspires competitors to do by bringing together students, educators and business leaders to design, collaborate and build.

Make48 holds competitions around the country, enticing participants to try their hand at a challenge. The invention series, which has its own YouTube Channel and can also be found on the This Old House Makers Channel, takes place at maker spaces where experts in welding, woodworking, electrical and textiles stand at the ready to help teams get an idea out of their heads, onto the shop floor, and into the real world.

The competitions create opportunities for innovation, brainstorming and problem solving, and enable creative teams to turn their back-of-a-napkin idea into a prototype.

A sponsor – often a local business – throws down a challenge, and the teams harness their creativity to build a solution in two days.

Tom Gray, co-founder and producer for the Make48 television series, aims to turn 48 straight hours into the most productive two days of the contestants’ lives. And the prerequisites – or lack thereof – might surprise you.

“No engineering background is needed whatsoever,” says Gray. “Experts build on behalf of the teams, so the teams themselves don’t have to [fabricate] anything.”

Participants not only build prototypes, but they also build new skills, a network of friends and confidence that they take with them into other parts of their lives.

Teaching

“Anything in this industry is really challenging,” says Gray. “We wanted to teach people. I’m teaching people the shortcuts, and that’s where it becomes powerful.”

The teaching happens throughout the competition and is televised for audiences to follow along in real time. The program began in 2015. In the nine years since, it has grown, evolved and gained a widespread following.

Make48 brings together eight teams, each with four participants. Contestants arrive at the maker spaces, primarily in the Midwest, and compete in a challenge revealed just moments before the 48-hour clock starts ticking.

“There are no pre-conceived ideas,” Gray says. In 48 hours, teams create a prototype, a one-page sales sheet and a one-minute video describing the invention.

Gray operates from the premise that only a relatively small percentage of the population has the combination of passion and technical skills to be efficient makers. He himself makes no claim to being a builder. “The rest of the population has ideas,” he says. “Those ideas are stuck in our heads. And until you can prototype something, you really can’t prove anything.”

Gray, an entrepreneur with a farming background, helps inventors license products and take them to market via manufacturing, distribution and marketing. He co-founded Make48 with three inventors: Rich Brull, Bob Coulsten and Curt McMillan. The other three partners have since left the organization, but they left their mark by working with Gray to bring a wide range of experience to share with contestants.

Gray says his greatest strength is in “looking at something and saying, ‘We can fix this for the consumer benefit.’ I took products to market the hard way – the expensive way. I can help people avoid the traps.”

Some inventions from the Make48 series have been ushered into the real world. If companies see promise, they fine-tune the idea and build on the initial prototype.

“Small businesses start when people can find a manufacturer or an investor,” says Gray. “That’s the sweet spot we are trying to achieve. Let’s get that innovation out of your head and prototype it. Then you can do something with it.”

One such success story is the Well Played team from Madison, Wisconsin. They recently created a portable, outdoor game called BocceRoll as a result of a Make48 challenge. The game is a new take on bocce and skeeball, and is now being sold to consumers. “They raised over $175,000 on their pre-launch,” says Gray, adding that the company has since been assessed at a much higher value.”

Make48 challenges vary from the simple, such as an outdoor game, to the more complex – like creating a sustainable bicycling product using recycled bike materials.

The bike challenge winners – the Stellar Tech Girls, also from Madison, Wisconsin – were a team of high school students led by STEM advocate Marina Bloomer. They created a radar-equipped safety device that alerts bikers to the presence of oncoming cars and helps them stay focused on the road and avoid accidents.

The Stellar Tech Girls moved up to compete at the national level and won. They were tasked with creating a product that related to animal wellness and transportation. The team invented a product called the Recupercrate – a comfortable, portable, high-tech space for dogs to recover after veterinary surgery. In exchange for their idea and prototype, the team won $10,000 and high praise from the competition judges, all of whom are builders and makers themselves.

Partnerships

The Make48 competitions offer more benefits to contestants than just hands-on learning and cash prizes. The entire experience is “like a job fair on steroids,” Gray says. “Students have created amazing partnerships and network opportunities. The companies are saying, ‘Consider working for us in an internship or job.’ That’s pretty unique.”

Make48 also fosters confidence, helping students find new talents they never realized they had. For example, the DeBruce Foundation, a Make48 partner based in Kansas City, works to teach people how uncover their “agilities.”

“Agility is what you are really good at – leadership, innovating, numbers – but it is also your passion,” Gray says. “We survey the students before they compete to figure out their agility, and during the competition they wear a special badge that tells everybody what their skills are. That has helped dramatically in getting teams organized and giving certain roles to members of teams.”

On the flip side, students who may have thought they weren’t strong public speakers, for instance, often rise to the occasion when presenting their ideas to the judges.

Make48 recently invited visually impaired students to compete at the Kansas School for the Blind. The students worked in a uniquely designed maker space with carpeted and tiled areas to help participants with canes determine their location at all times. The space was also outfitted with an array of laser engravers, 3D printers, welders, power tools and woodworking equipment.

Teams were tasked with an “egg challenge,” which involved making a chicken egg holder that displays and dispenses farm-fresh eggs. Each team created sophisticated storage units with various components for dispensing eggs. Due to the success of the event, Make48 is planning to expand on the concept and host six schools for the blind from around the nation.

“This event proved to the world that just because you may have a disability, it does not matter,” says Gray. “We want to showcase that these kids are extremely capable. With a few tools and some support, they can innovate like anybody else.”

Make48 is currently focusing on teams made up entirely of high school or college students. Team captains will be over 18 and will likely be teachers who can bring hands-on lessons back to the classroom. This strategy is aimed at helping to spread Make48’s reach and allow students to develop skills in the classroom that will help them succeed in the workforce.

“A lot of teachers [who participated in Make48 competitions] say they are learning more in 48 hours than in a whole year with their students,” says Gray. “That’s amazing for us to hear that we can teach so quickly. What these kids learn in forty-eight hours is really an unrealistic whirlwind of information, but it’s also very, very powerful.”

Since Make48 typically touches only 32 students per competition, Gray is excited to expand the program’s reach. Make48 is now offering a course that can be taught in schools during the term or a summer session. The curriculum supports hands-on learning, design, innovation and problem solving.

“Challenges presented in the Make48 course are presented by real companies seeking real innovation,” says Gray. “At the end of the day, I want these students to be well-versed in how to innovate. Hopefully, they can go on to compete in a live Make48 one day.”

Gray and his team are uniquely positioned to create relationships with companies and connect students and teachers to those businesses. “Partnerships are being formed,” says Gray. “Teachers can now take the lessons into schools. It feels like we are getting some really good traction [which provides] meaningful learning opportunities.”

Make48 for All

Scaling the Make48 concept “for the world to learn” is the next iteration, says Gray, who eventually plans to give the general public a shot at inventing. Instead of 48 hours, the program will launch a challenge online with a 48-day deadline for contestants to build prototypes. The longer form competition will entice participants from anywhere in the country to get resourceful in solving a business problem.

“For example, if a major farming company wants to develop a new accessory for a tractor, a farmer in Florida might have the right answer,” says Gray, who believes anyone with a good idea can help solve a problem.

This new Make48 format will make it easier than ever to turn an idea into something meaningful.

“When you innovate, you use multiple disciplines,” says Gray. “You have to use woodworking, metal working, electronics. There are not many people who can do it all, but these maker spaces are everywhere. You walk in and there are amazing welders and woodworkers. If you just ask, they will build it with you or for you. You can prototype stuff so easily compared to twenty years ago.”

The Make48 concept is a reminder that an idea is worth pursuing, no matter what. It also underscores the power of collaboration.

“Don’t be afraid to take the chance to go forward with whatever idea you have,” said Keerthi Peddinti, one of the Stellar Tech Girl teammates from Wisconsin, after her win. “Because any idea is a start for anything.”

Gray agrees. You may have thought of an idea years ago and “now it’s being sold at Wal-Mart and making millions,” he laughs. “Well, maybe you should’ve done something when the idea came to you.”

Now you can.