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UMake 2026 Hardware Makeathon
2026-08-19 | By Andres Luis De Vera
The University of Manitoba IEEE Student Branch (UMIEEE) is a non-profit organization that provides students with the space and equipment needed to maximize learning opportunities and enhance education in electronics and embedded systems design. UMIEEE strives to enrich students’ knowledge and professional communication skills through networking events and workshops. Every year UMIEEE hosts technical workshops that cover topics like Arduino, Raspberry Pi, embedded devices, and many more.
This year, UMIEEE hosted an event called UMake Hardware Makeathon, where the goal was for teams to bring the craziest prototype ideas to life based on the theme given to each team. The team will be provided with tools, sensors, and Arduino kits to build the physical devices. The event lasted for 2 days. At the end of the second day, judges, who are professors and industry professionals, will assess each group’s projects. This is also the time when networking among students and industry professionals takes place. The top 3 teams win prizes.
The following three pictures are the top 3 winners of the event with their prototypes.
ESP32 Interactive Gameboy
The project is a Game Boy-inspired handheld gaming system built using an ESP32 that runs classic games like Snake and Tetris while allowing the user to interact with the game through a web browser. The device also uses a lightweight web interface built where people can connect to the device from their phones and interact with the snake game or watch the gameplay in real time.
The idea behind the design was to explore the capabilities and limits of a single microcontroller platform to handle multiple roles simultaneously. The ESP32 acts as:
- a game console
- a web server
- a wireless receiver for the remote controller
- a networked device that multiple users can interact with
Propeller Boy
The inspiration for the project was thought of when a team member had the crazy idea of blowing a fan to be the main source of user input. Using inspiration from the game that uses sound to move the character, the project, Propeller Boy, was created. What this device does is you blow into a fan to spin a propeller on top of the Propeller Boy’s head to elevate them up into the sky. A joystick is used to control the landing. The goal is to move to the right as far as possible while navigating from platform to platform.
The group consisted of all computer science students, so they had no prior knowledge of electronics, which gave the group a disadvantage when doing the project. In the end, not only were they able to learn the basics of electronics, but they were also able to come in the top 3 in the event.
Arduino Musical Countdown Timer
The project allows a user to set and control a timer using three buttons. The first button starts a countdown, the second button increases the timer by 30 seconds, and the third button decreases the timer by 30 seconds. The Arduino tracks the remaining time and shows the countdown. When the countdown reaches 0, the device plays a short piece of music via a buzzer to notify the user.
The idea behind the design was to create a simple and interactive timer that also produces music. Many timers create a simple beat, but the group wanted to create a timer that plays a musical tune to make the alert more noticeable and fun.
A big shoutout to DigiKey for sponsoring our Arduino kits. It has given the students more hardware to use for the project. This event has given students a fun opportunity to work in a team environment as well as enhance their skills in hardware and embedded system design.
