Inventor Center

Inventor Center is OPEN! Will you accept our engineering challenge?

Location: RMSC Third Floor
Made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Power cities, build cars, harness wind, and fire catapults in Inventor Center.

We proudly present a fascinating “maker space!” You can participate in engineering and design challenges as you tinker with raw materials to create working inventions that can be tested and shared. Dive into a hands-on exploration of the inventive process — you might become the next Thomas Edison or Mary Anderson!

Our Inventor Center encourages you to explore the thrilling process of invention. As the first phase of a developing exhibition focused on innovation, the Inventor Center includes a series of participatory stations: learn, build, test, and share. Learn about a problem, build a prototype, test your results, and share your ideas or inventions with others (not necessarily in that order). Hop into the process at any point and see what you can do!

A new main challenge will be presented in Inventor Center every four to five months, and it’s up to you to solve it. Here’s today’s challenge:

Powering Mars

September 26, 2022–January 8, 2023

Exercise your engineering skills to develop a system using solar and wind energy to provide power to a city on a Martian landscape, even when the sun is blocked by dust storms! Work on your own, or with a team, to design and build wind turbines that will generate electricity to light up our Martian city. Connect the wires, measure the volts and even use solar panels to transform motion and light into electricity.