STEM Forward’s 2025 Contrapt Wisconsin competition wrapped up another record-breaking year with the playful and creative theme: Feed Your Pet. This year’s program engaged 785 students in hands-on STEM learning, teamwork, and innovation through school participation.
We kicked off with Contrapt Milwaukee at MSOE on May 2nd, where 28 teams and 125 students brought imaginative machines to life. Then, Contrapt Waukesha at WCTC on May 9th hosted 45 teams and 183 students, filling the event space with energy, collaboration, and controlled chaos. We were also proud to partner with Eaton for a special edition of Contrapt at Golda Meir, where 11 student teams showcased their designs at a company-hosted event.
Each team worked to engineer a chain reaction contraption that creatively completed the simple task of feeding a pet, utilizing complex steps, recycled materials, and considerable ingenuity.
A huge thank you goes out to our incredible judges, volunteers, sponsors, and educators who made this program possible. Your dedication and enthusiasm continue to inspire the next generation of problem solvers, makers, and engineers.
Stay tuned—next year’s theme and dates will be announced in our Back-to-School Newsletter!
Contrapt Milwaukee – May 2, 2025
Contrapt Waukesha – May 9, 2025
Contrapt Wisconsin is STEM Forward’s engaging middle school contraption competition. A contraption accomplishes a simple task in the most complicated, fun way possible. Building one can be challenging, but it allows students to work on skills involving engineering, simple machines, trial and error, project planning, physics, teamwork, and creativity. Our competition enables students to showcase their talents to their peers and our judges to earn awards. If you have any questions, please get in touch with Theresa Wolf at twolf@stemforward.org.
Looking for inspiration to introduce the Contrapt Competition in the classroom? Check out the "Action Contraption" activity in Discover Engineering's resource library—it's a great way to get kids excited and engaged!
Check out the 2025 pictures of students & their contraptions!
