Hackathon: A Big Hit at PCS

individual working on mechanical portion of a device | Product Creation Studio

What does the team at PCS do after a long week of new product development for our clients? We get together to solve significant problems like how to borrow power from that unused phone jack, how to make this electric scooter go faster…in the rain, and how to hack your car’s fuel pump system. Hackathons at PCS are manifestations of the pent up creativity and curiosity shared by the team members. There are no real rules other than you have to tell the group what you are working on.

The PCS equipment is available but many folks brought their own 3D printers as part of their projects. Training for the new laser cutter was held just prior to this month’s hackathon, enabling some visiting 5th grader’s to build precision-cut boomerangs (with an assist from our ID Director). Some projects are ongoing like Guy’s video-game dance interface, Dean’s ever-improving electric scooter, Thomas’s Tesla coil or Aaron’s custom electric desk. But many just pop up out of the blue like Blake’s fuel pump fix, Amanda’s 3D printed Halloween accessories or Ian’s phone jack power exploration. The main requirement is to have fun on projects outside the usual.

EventsScott Thielman