Big Slipper

The Big Slipper was a 20-ft tall wood slide. It was constructed with lumber for the towers and supports, and with low friction HDPE plastic for the slide surface. I acted as one of 3 student leads for the project, designing the structure, planning build schedule, and directing student volunteers in construction.

I used Onshape, a cloud based CAD system, to model the slide design. I also worked closely with the MIT safety department to gain official approvals both from a licensed architect and the City of Cambridge. Big Slipper was a fun project, and our top priority was safety and structural soundness. Thus, we compiled a full safety proposal detailing our construction process and timeline, as well as procedures for tool training.

Beginning in spring break of 2015, we led an intensive multi-week construction process, organizing over a dozen students who participated in building the project. Both experienced builders and complete new-comers became involved! It was incredibly exciting to see the structure come together.

Our ultimate goal was to get more people involved and excited about build projects at MIT - and we did just that. We had hundreds of students, prefrosh, and MIT employees ride Big Slipper!