Participants were encouraged to identify a need and to use their problem-solving and creative-thinking skills to find a solution. Students then linked wedges, pulleys, levers, wheels and axles, screws, and inclined planes together to perform the desired task. This year, students also had to include an electrical circuit. After careful planning, students were required to build their contraptions out of scavenged materials, such as school supplies, duct tape, and cardboard boxes. 

Many inventions focused on food preparation, such as a banana slicer, grilled cheese sandwich maker, chocolate cutter, or doughnut hole dispenser. Other machines solved interesting problems, such as the "name tag slapper" or the "book mark putter inner." 

Inventions were officially judged for creativity, use of simple machines, and the ability to explain what steps in the invention required the most trial and error to perfect. If a particular mechanism failed to work as planned, students were given credit for the step if they could explain how they would adjust or replace the malfunctioning part in order to fix the machine. Students learned that plans and models must often be modified in order to achieve the desired result, and that inventors rarely get it right the first time.