Engineering Students Tee Off

Quarterly competition challenges students to design accessible putt-putt golf courses

STEM students embraced their inner child at this term’s Engineering competition, transforming the STEM building’s north patio into a miniature putt-putt golf course complete with dinosaurs, snowmen, SpongeBob SquarePants, alien invasions, penguins, and more. 

Clark’s Engineering Department partnered with the Clark County Fair to challenge students to design and build an interactive one-hole putt-putt course that fairgoers of all ages can enjoy. But behind the playful theme was a complex engineering assignment. Students created outdoor courses that incorporated accessibility features and engaged at least two of the players’ senses to create an inclusive experience. 

As added challenges, the average player needed to be able to complete the hole in six strokes or fewer — which means no impossible obstacles or traps — and every course had to include both a moving mechanism and a simple machine with a specific function.  

Once the courses were complete, it was time to put them to the test. Students explored each other’s projects, putting their way through a wide variety of imaginative designs. While every course reflected its team’s creativity, they also showcased the engineering principles behind the game. 

Teams were scored on design and innovation, functionality and quality, safety and playability, and creativity and theme. 

One team built a dinosaur-themed course that added sound as part of the accessibility design. They recorded dinosaur roars that played through a speaker next to a dinosaur figure, whose mouth also served as a tunnel for the golf ball (pictured right). The mechanism was inspired by the crankshaft and pistons found in a car engine. 

“It’s our masterpiece,” one of the students said. “We figured it would be a good way to incorporate a moving mechanism.”  

In addition to presenting the course itself, teams also discussed the challenges they faced throughout the process, what they would change when designing a course in the future, and the bill of materials to ensure they remained within the $100 spending limit.  

“The project was full of last-minute changes,” Team Dinosaur admitted. Although they successfully installed the dinosaur mechanism, it was a learning process, and they would use a different construction process if they were to build a second iteration that would make the dinosaur “more precise and visually appealing.” 

Teams also found creative ways to make their courses more accessible. One team designed a pulley system that retrieved the golf ball from the hole, allowing players who have difficulty bending down to complete the course more comfortably. 

Students expressed pride in their designs, despite (or perhaps because of) the challenges that they faced. While nobody scored a hole-in-one that day, every student had reason to celebrate. 

Learn More About Engineering at Clark College

Clark’s Engineering department has one of the largest and most affordable transfer programs in Washington, allowing students to build a solid foundation in their discipline while taking advantage of small class sizes. 

Each term, engineering students take on different hands-on projects, with instructors posing real-life problems for them to solve — experiences that build technical confidence and resilience. Learn more about Clark’s Engineering department and see the previous creations from this year’s competitions: 

• • Winter 2026, Mobility Aid Robot 
  • Fall 2025, Crane: Earthquake Response Edition 

Photos: Clark College/Carly Rae Zent and Malena Goerl

Story by Malena Goerl, Staff Writer, Communications and Marketing