Winrock’s Innovation Hub to host Make48 Season 7 National Competition

Eight teams from across the country are getting ready to face each other at Make48’s season 7 national championship. The competition is set to happen at the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub at Winrock International in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The event will unfold over three days starting on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023, and ending on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023.

Make48 is a national invention competition where teams are given 48 hours to come up with an idea, and create a prototype, marketing materials, and a pitch. The goal of Make48 is to foster imagination, creativity, problem-solving, and innovation.

The teams participating in this fall’s national competition will represent their hometowns and the host makerspaces they competed for during the regional events. Contestants will be visiting The Innovation Hub from Kansas City, Kansas; Anderson, Indiana; Beloit, Wisconsin; and Bentonville, Arkansas.

Innovation Hub Director Errin Stanger “played a significant role in bringing Make48 to North Little Rock,” Make48 wrote in an announcement posted on its website. “She has worked closely with Make48’s CEO, local educational institutions, businesses, and community leaders to make the event possible.”

“North Little Rock is thrilled to host this meaningful challenge and we want to give a big thank you to Make48 and all of the individuals and sponsors who make this possible. We are humbled and grateful,” Stanger said.

The challenge set for the 7th national Make48 competition will focus on tiny homes for the homeless community in the Central Arkansas area. This challenge aims to encourage innovation and creativity while addressing the issue of homelessness and improving the quality of life for those in need. To assist the teams, a lineup of experts, including makers, computer-aided design experts, metalworkers, and master craftspeople from YouTube, local maker spaces, and iconic brands will be present at the event to help bring the teams’ ideas to life for the Tiny Homes challenge. It will be an intense two-day competition as the teams compete for a very good cause and to win $10,000.

Stanger spoke about the challenge and what it means to her and the community.

“This challenge is very special to me,” she told Make48 when the organization announced its selection. “I’m inspired by the activity happening within Central Arkansas surrounding tiny home villages for the homeless. We are focused on ensuring our homeless have a better quality of life and why would we not want to include incredible design features? Wouldn’t you want that in your home?”

She added: “Make48 is the perfect platform to explore innovation and challenge individuals to think creatively and critically around this incredible theme. This is one very special way that we can hopefully make a difference for someone who may need it most.”

The competition will be televised as a four-episode series in partnership with This Old House Makers Channel on the Roku network.

To learn more about Make48, please visit www.make48.com