PSU Abington News’ reported that engineering students celebrated the fall season by launching pumpkins with a trebuchet they built using skills acquired through coursework. The launching was part of PSU Abington’s annual Pumpkin Chunkin.

Isaiah Wilson, a sophomore in the engineering with multidisciplinary engineering design option (MDE), explained that the design allows the trebuchet to launch projectiles of greater weights further distances than that of a traditional catapult. 

“We added a crank to keep the arm down instead of using our own brute force to keep the arm in place before we launched. The crank shaft is based off of a principle I learned in my engineering mechanics class. It’s about 200 pounds of force displaced,” he said. 

“Overall, the design worked pretty well, and we hope to make it stronger next year. We want to design it to safely chunk the pumpkins,” Wilson said. 

Another student mentioned that the addition of a release mechanism and a safety belt makes the trebuchet more effective. 

“We did testing and brainstorming sessions before we built it. It’s a big improvement. The release mechanism keeps three people from holding it in place while one person ties the pumpkin in,” he said. 

The campus Engineering Club with guidance from Marcus Besser, associate teaching professor of engineering, organized the event on a field across from the Rydal Building. 

Check out the video of the launcher in action: