Cardboard and Chicken Wire Make Winning Pumpkin Catcher

A pumpkin catcher made of cardboard boxes and chicken wire springs won the award for most innovative design in the 10th annual Pumpkin Drop sponsored by the Old Dominion University Society of Physics Students on Thursday, Oct. 30, at the Batten Arts and Letters (BAL) Building on the ODU campus.

The winning catcher, which successfully cushioned the fall of a pumpkin dropped from the top of the 9-story BAL, was designed and built by Autumn Compton and Caitlin Toler. They are students in the Physics 101 class of Sebastian Kuhn, professor and eminent scholar of physics.

Another successful catcher, this a compact pile of bubble wrap and cardboard sheets, won the prize for the shortest catcher. It was entered by a team of Portsmouth Christian School students led by their teacher, Aaron Karavias, who holds a degree in physics from ODU. The students are Eian McCoy, Harrison Peaks, Seth Buckmaster, Sam Snyder and Ima Stabel.

Approximately 300 spectators were on hand for this year's Pumpkin Drop, which featured demonstrations of nine catchers, as well as physics experiments using falling pumpkins.