About Our Project

The Pinewood Derby Senior Design Project is a project led by a team of five PSU students from the Mechanical Engineering Technology program. Our task is to improve the current Pinewood Derby track, which serves an important role in each engineering student's academic path. Every engineering student that comes through Pittsburg State's program will be enrolled in Engineering Graphics 1, a course to teach the basic fundamentals of computer aided design. For a final project, the students in that course are required to build a Pinewood Derby car out of FDM by using additive manufacturing.

Our goal as a senior design team is to improve the track that these cars will race on. The current track is constructed from plywood and basic fasteners, but major inconsistencies and other issues are becoming prevalent. The track has seen a series of minor patches to temporarily fix those issues in the past, but our team is looking to redesign it from square one.

We plan to build a high-quality, technologically advanced and sustainable racetrack that will possess all the functions of today's track while lasting for the next generation of Pittsburg State University students.

We thank you for your consideration of a gift towards making our education experience a success - a success that allows us to pay it forward to future Gorillas!

2024-2025 Pinewood Derby Senior Project Team Members

From left to right:
Joseph Maxwell (design & procurement lead), Kameron Zimmerly (schedule & documentation lead), Shelby Forst (team lead), Cross Holmes (marketing and quality lead), Nick Muskrat (manufacturing & finance lead)

Faculty Advisor (not pictured): Daniel Maxwell

How Your Gift Will Make an Impact

Below is a breakdown of all expenses.

Total budget for project - $2,000.00 

Design & Prototype Phase
3D Print Filament
$30.00
Hardware
$50.00
Stock Material
$100.00
Welding Supplies
$50.00
Misc./Other
$210.00
Subtotal
$440.00
Manufacturing & Build Phase
Aluminum Sheeting
$200.00
Cart
$350.00
Electronics
$150.00
Hardware
$50.00
Skeleton/Frame Material
$200.00
Starting Mechanism
$50.00
Welding Supplies
$50.00
Misc./Other
$250.00
Subtotal
$1,300.00
Proposed Subtotal
$1,740.00
15% Contingency
$260.00
Proposed Budget Total
$2,000.00

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Give Today

Support 2024-2025 PSU Pinewood Derby Senior Project

Suggested Amounts
$0.00

Making a gift online to PSU is secure and private. In accordance with PCI compliance requirements, the PSU Foundation does not store or retain your credit card information. Under our privacy policy, we do not sell personal information or use it for purposes other than the support of PSU. For questions regarding your gift, please call us Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT at 620-235-4768. We can also be reached by email at [email protected]. Thank you for supporting PSU!

Almost done. Where should we send the confirmation?

Any remaining funds from this completed project will go into a fund to continue to support Mechanical Engineering Technology.

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