Northeastern Oakland kicks off engineering design degree with pumpkin catapult contest
Students and industry judges tested launch mechanisms at the campus farm before the new interdisciplinary program begins classes in 2027.
By Julia Wang ·
A small pumpkin flew through the air at the Northeastern University Oakland campus farm.
The projectile was part of a weeklong engineering challenge that concluded on Oct. 30.
The event marked the debut of a new Bachelor of Science in Engineering Design program.
Classes for the four-year degree will start in fall 2027.
The curriculum merges engineering and design into a single discipline.
Each course will anchor classroom lessons to real projects for employers.
The program is the first to be offered exclusively at the Oakland location.
The campus opened in 2022.
Faculty from the College of Engineering and the College of Arts, Media and Design co-designed the syllabus.
Active Bay Area employers will serve as advisors and mentors.
Sarah Hirschman, a professor of architecture and design, explained the hiring trend driving the program.
Technology companies want applicants with experience across multiple domains, she said. They are not just looking for civil or mechanical engineers. They want people who understand the mix of tasks required to execute a design idea, Hirschman said. The curriculum will ask students to consider the totality of complex projects. She cited the iPhone and Waymo driverless vehicles as examples. The success of such products depends equally on engineering and design principles. These disciplines do not fit under a singular umbrella, she noted. Hirschman hoped the program would reach students who feel at home in multiple fields. She described herself as a high school student who was athletic and into science but also artistic. The program aims to appeal to people who are not intimidated by science but do not view it as their only love. Leopold Pflaum, a politics, philosophy and economics student from New York, entered the competition without a mechanical engineering background. He took a leading role in his team's catapult design. The goal was to launch a miniature pumpkin as close as possible to a wheelbarrow 50 feet away. Judges also scored visual elegance and branding. Pflaum and his team designed a launch system inside a model of the Golden Gate Bridge. The model featured LED lights and bright red paint to mimic the bridge's international orange color. The BSED program includes an electronic work portfolio that follows students for four years. The portfolio tracks coursework, co-op assignments, personal projects, and club activities. Advisors will work with students each semester to shape the portfolio into a cohesive narrative. Hirschman called this part of the program's alternative evaluation metrics. This grading style embraces failure and experimentation in design and engineering. Michael Jaeggli, a bioengineering professor and program co-lead, said the portfolios will help employers see student work in an interactive, multimedia setting. It is difficult to tell students apart by grade point average alone, Jaeggli said. He wants students to have real pieces of work that they can show off and use to tell a story. Seven teams of four students participated in the final competition. Each team had five attempts to hit the wheelbarrow or land inside a surrounding 10-foot circle. Guest judges from Google, Tesla, Ocean Power Technologies, and other companies watched with clipboards. They noted the catapults' appearances and effectiveness. Pflaum and his teammates Jett Jones, Sonora Bouey, and Eleanor Morgan finished in first place. Their launches were consistently accurate and their visual design was memorable. Morgan, an electrical engineering student, said she contributed visual design elements despite having less mechanical knowledge than her groupmates. The competition taught her that everyone brings individual strengths to the table. The effective combination of these skills makes a project successful.
