The contest drew more than 50 participants including process engineers, product development engineers, sustaining engineers, and R&D engineers, plus representatives from Regulatory, Marcom, and other departments.

Acumed staff cheered on their favorite teams. Referees included Acumed President Sharon Wolfington; Vice President of Product Development and Engineering Steven Reinecke; and Vice President, Global Supply Chain Don Grover.

The Farthest Launch winner Paperfury sent their planes a cumulative distance of 1636 feet—beating second-place finisher Team Liability by 2000 feet. The Fastest Launch of all five planes was accomplished by Team Droppler Effect at 16 seconds. Watch the videos of Paperfury and Droppler Effect launches below.

Honorable mentions included “Best Use of a 3D Printer” (Team Icarus) and “Best Use of a Surgical Caddy” (Wrong Brothers!). Staff are already thinking up ideas for next year’s competition.

2017 Design Challenge Team Roster: Project Icarus, Wrong Brothers!, Team Liability, AcuFly, Team Super Awesome Platinum Strike Force: Alpha One (RA/QA 2), Keeping is R.E.L.S (The Blue Team), Three Beards and Andy, Paper Fury, COVFEFE, Droppler Effect, Priority 10 Mail