A Night of Creative Contraptions
A siege engine takes shape during Construction Night, an event hosted by Drexel University’s SPS chapter. For more photos, check out the chapter’s Instagram account, instagram.com/spsdrexel.
Photo by Jahzeel Martinez.
Physics, camaraderie, and just the right amount of controlled chaos met in a new Drexel University SPS chapter event: Construction Night.
Armed with miniature wooden siege engine kits from National Geographic, we gathered to assemble bombards, catapults, ballistae, and whatever else the evening’s engineering whims inspired. The event was open to all and drew around 13 attendees, which, for our chapter, felt like Woodstock with pizza.
The participants included a mix of physics majors, curious passersby, and first-time attendees who, by the end of the night, were enthusiastically flinging projectiles and asking when the next event would be. (No ceiling tiles were harmed, though several reputations for aim were left in question.)
Who won? We all won. That’s how physics works sometimes.
Fueling all this kinetic creativity was some of the best pizza we’ve ever had at an SPS event. Between bites and builds, participants swapped ideas for future events, shared textbook tips and academic survival strategies, and began imagining new chapter traditions. Construction Night planted the seed for more game nights and informal gatherings, all in the same spirit and with the same goal: making physics fun, low-stress, and welcoming for everyone.
At its core, this event was about more than just launching tiny objects at our unsuspecting friends. It was about building momentum for our chapter, strengthening bonds between students, and turning a simple evening of kits and snacks into something students remembered and wanted to be part of again.
