Students race remote-controlled cars of their own design at Faulhaber Fab Lab

At first, the vehicle was a little top-heavy, seventh grader Layla Loeffel and her brother, fifth grader J.D. Loeffel found.

The two had created a remote-controlled car themed after a 1950s diner, an idea they got from "Back to the Future."

They 3D printed many of the components, and spending hours hand-painting them. Because of the diner's size, they placed a weight, which they had found inside the lab, on the front of the car. 

Fortunately, everything balanced out. 

The diner was part of their plan to keep their design efforts strong every year, in their third year of participating in the Annual Remote Control Car Competition at Faulhaber Fab Lab.

Fast forward through time

The event, now in its 10th year, was the culmination of efforts by over 175 young people from more than 30 local schools to showcase creativity and engineering skills. 

According to Fab Lab, students spent two months creating the vehicles, using technology including 3D printers and laser cutters, while 15 high school student volunteers who contributed over 1,000 hours guided the program. 

There was a design competition on April 11, while April 12 featured a drag race and obstacle course, with the chance for kids to win cash prizes, scholarships and other awards. 

With the theme of both race tracks being a journey through time, kids had the chance to showcase the eras they were most passionate about. 

Fourth grader Charlie Cavallaro and fifth grader Guadalupe Jaraz created a medieval-themed car.

"I had the original idea for medieval and we both love history, so he agreed on it," said Cavallaro.

At first, their car would veer off in the wrong direction, he said, with a screw falling off and the tires not turning, but he said they could fix the problem with glue and a screwdriver.

Nonetheless, the castle on their car ended up being knocked off during the races.

The Loeffels hoped their diner would survive, as all of their past efforts destroyed their car. (In their first year, they created a jellyfish car, and in their second, a carnival-themed car with a spinning Ferris wheel.)

Layla noted this year, they encased many of the pieces inside the diner. 

"If the box falls off, then everything's safe," Layla said, "So I think this year it might be okay unless somebody just rams it and smashes the whole thing."

For Cameron Cuff, a fifth grader, and Riley Thomas, a fifth grader who was competing for the first time, the process wasn't always easy, but they felt the end result was a success.

Their car featured a 3D-printed dinosaur enjoying a meal of chicken nuggets (which they said are actually dino nuggets) as well as other elements, such as lights on the wheels.

However, they would sometimes have different ideas about aspects like the colors of different objects. 

“We basically compromised, and we said, like, if I get to choose mine on this thing, you can choose yours on this thing, and it all ended up pretty well,” Cuff said.

Thomas said even though she's not planning to pursue engineering as a career, she enjoyed the experience of building the car. 

"I would love to do this in my free time..." she said. "I love arts and crafts, and it just kind of works out."