MADE Competition

SAVE THE DATE – MADE 2023 will take place on Friday, October 20th at CoMMA

Event details, competition insights, and more will be released this Spring.

MADE is one of the most successful collaborations between education and industry partners and it gives Burke County students a chance to experience STEAM-based activities that build skills relevant to many of the area industries. MADE encourages students to think outside of the box and engages participants in critical thinking, design, engineering and innovation.

MADE is an event produced by the Historic Morganton Festival, Inc. and takes place annually in October. The 2023 Challenge will be announced in the Spring. If you are interested in learning more about the MADE Competition or would like to be placed on the contact list, please contact Abby Nelson at anelson@morgantonnc.gov or 828-438-5280. Spaces are limited and are first come, first serve.

In the news: Historic Morganton Festival wins award

HMF received an award at the North Carolina Association of Festivals and Events. The MADE Competition (Morganton, Arts, Design and Engineering) was awarded as “Best Event Associated with an Event” within the festival.

The NCAFE wants to recognize festivals that showcase events within the main festival that give those in attendance an even more unique experience. This award spotlights how “the event within the event” can be an additional support and increase engagement for the main festival.

The MADE Competition, which was first held in 2018, has since become an anticipated, yearly tradition for students who have a passion for arts, design and engineering. Historic Morganton Festival assistant director, Abby Nelson, developed the idea for the MADE Competition with hopes of incorporating engineering into an event that would engage a new crowd while also highlighting the area’s students.

Around the time of the competition’s inception, there were several announcements about industries expanding in Burke County as well as new companies moving to the area. Also, the North Carolina School of Science and Math had just announced that Morganton would be the new location for their western campus. In combination with these announcements and the already established engineering curriculum within Burke County Public Schools, charter and private schools, Nelson thought this would be a great idea to execute in the Morganton community during the annual Historic Morganton Festival, which historically brings 20,000-30,000 visitors to downtown Morganton over the two day event.

Nelson said, “To see how this competition has grown in only a few years, is very humbling and exciting. The support it has received from so many schools, businesses and individuals is the reason it has thrived. I am excited to see even more growth in the coming years and how this will postively affect the students and our community as a whole.”

The MADE Competition engages Burke County middle and high school students in critical thinking, design, engineering and innovation in a way that works toward meeting the needs of local industry while also highlighting the technological skill of Burke County students. In its few years of existence, MADE has already awarded over $20,000 directly to STEM education classrooms in Burke County. The competition changes each year to reflect new skills and abilities of students. The competitions that have taken place include – 2018 Eco Chair Challenge, 2019 Junkyard Challenge-Wind Turbines, Spring 2021 Lamp Design, Fall 2021 Rescue Robot Challenge and 2022 Assembly Line Challenge. MADE reached such success that it has since become a stand-alone event with this year’s competition taking place at CoMMA on Friday, October 20th.