Event Report

From submissions, Red Bull whittled the list of hackers, engineers, and artists to 16 teams of four, which competed in Brooklyn starting on July 7. The Red Bull Creation finalists had 72 hours to conceive and build their projects, which had to be able to move the weight of a person between two points.

The 72-hour marathon of building took place in a special area constructed by Red Bull in Brooklyn's Newtown Barge Park, a little more than a mile from McCarren Park, where the judging took place.

Each of the participating teams was furnished with hand tools and other gear, including Dickies pants and shirts embroidered with the team's name.

In addition to drills, drivers, and other small appliances, the build site at Newtown Barge Park offered a central workshop area, which held advanced machinery and gadgets. To acquire these, the organizers reached out to several manufacturers, including welding company Lincoln Electric, Dake for drill presses, cold saws, and other tools, and Edwards for hydraulic iron-working machines.

With RVs to sleep in and food trucks providing sustenance, the build site served as the home for the 16 teams on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Naumoff explained that the atmosphere was fun as well as creative, and participants built whimsical items and sculptures as a way to pass the time.

The event on July 10 presented the designs from the teams to the public at McCarren Park. The doors opened at 3 p.m., and hundreds of families, design enthusiasts, and team supporters flooded the concrete playground usually used for basketball.

The setup at McCarren Park felt like a cross between a science fair and an amusement park, with booths for the inventions from each team and activities like bull riding and water balloon fights.

Many of the finalists allowed the public to try out their contraptions, while others demonstrated them using members of their team. As the design topic was "energy in motion," most created a vehicle, including local group ITP, which dubbed its elliptical-machine-like gadget the "Gezeble."

Red Bull assembled a panel of science, mechanical, and design geeks to judge the contest. The lineup included Simone Davalos, co-founder of robot competition RoboGames; Burning Man's co-founder Flash Hopkins; inventor and adjunct professor at New York University Chris Hackett; and Popular Mechanics senior technology editor Glenn Derene.

When they weren't checking out the competition's entries, the crowd at McCarren Park played around with a contraption that allowed them to shoot water balloons via an iPad. In addition to stationary targets, shooters could aim at other attendees, who in turn could dress up using props and costumes from a nearby section.

For the less physically inclined, Red Bull Creation also offered a collaborative art wall, inviting everyone to create a circuit-board-like piece using metal chains, paint, glitter, glue, bolts, and rope.

After signing a waiver, attendees could ride one of two mechanical bulls made from used tires.

Starting at 4 p.m., each of the teams presented their inventions to the judges and the amassed crowd on one of two stages. Ruination, a collective from Rochester, New York, showcased what it called a wedgie-powered vehicle, comprised of a trampoline, bicycles, and diaper-style seat.

A total of four showcases took place over the course of the afternoon and presented the inventions in groups of four, with two to each stage. For example, Minneapolis-based group 1.21 Jigawatts demonstrated its hamster-wheel-like vehicle (pictured) on the same stage as Hack.rva, a team from Richmond, Virginia, while a exhibition from the all-female Effin Ladies followed a presentation by NYC Resistor on the other platform.

Each team was given two and a half minutes to demonstrate their creation, explaining what was used to build it. Double Wide, the crew from Nevada, constructed what its called the "Amazing Cyclo" and showed how its remote-controlled robot worked before the crowd.

A performance by That 1 Guy—musician Mike Silverman, with a seven-foot-tall contraption of bass strings, swiveling pipes, metal gears, and electronic buttons—served as an intermission between the four showcases.

At 6:15 p.m., Red Bull crowned 1.21 Jigawatts the winner for its oversize hamster wheel, which could print text messages it receives onto the ground as it moves.

The winners not only received $5,000, but also four desktop laser engraving and cutting machines from event partner Full Spectrum Laser.

A live performance by Eclectic Method, a trio from the United Kingdom that remixes video and audio, ended the event.