The MSMS catapult group has been preparing for the Annual Catapult Competition at Ole Miss, which is occurring this year on April 12. So far they have the design ready, and plan to begin constructing the catapult soon.

Andy Zhao, a senior, describes his group’s design. “We went with a ballista inspired design that we feel has the advantage of being more accurate than traditional single-armed catapults.”

The catapult will be judged by its distance range, force, accuracy and design. Senior Jenny Nguyen summarized the events that would be used to judge the catapult.

“You go through a safety inspection in the very beginning, and you get interviewed for the design of the catapult . . . We have to build a catapult that will go through several events that Ole Miss gives us. One of the events is called “Papa-Shot,” I think. Essentially, you have to fire a tennis ball into a basket ball hoop, and you get [different points for going past the hoop, hitting the backboard, and getting the ball in the basket].There is an event where you have to shoot tennis balls long distance across a basketball field and into a trashcan.

There is a final round that half of the participants get to participate in . . .  They set up a bunch of boxes, and they want you to shoot the tennis balls to knock down those boxes. And, you know, tennis balls aren’t very heavy, and you will only knock over those boxes if you get a lot of force behind it, so the catapults you build will [have to have a lot of force],” Nguyen explained.

As of now, the team only has the design for their catapult made. Last year they managed to get third place overall with only nine days of construction. However, this year the team plans to start earlier and begin construction after spring break, allowing them almost a month for testing their design and hopefully improving their chances of winning first place.