Students make Halloween safer with trick-or-treat bowls

With Halloween just a few days away, three Okanagan College Mechanical Engineering students are manufacturing a safe way for people to still partake in trick-or-treating.

Enter Trick-or-Treat Bowls. An innovative solution, the tools are 3D printed with a small tray-like bowl and attach to any standard broom handle. The idea is that candy can be placed in the bowl and extended to the treat-seeker, providing a socially distanced way to trick-or-treat.

“With Halloween coming up, we wanted to provide something that could be fun for the kids while following Dr. Bonnie Henry’s guidelines,” Randy McFarland, one of the three team members involved with the project, said.

The process to build the bowls started with measuring broom handles and ensuring measurements were correct for a prototype. With three designs to choose from, the team produced coding to the 3D printers specific to each design, fine tuning with prototypes and adjusting as needed. The bowl designs come in the shape of a pumpkin, witch’s hat or cauldron, all made from biodegradable bioplastic.

McFarland, along with classmates Myles Derksen and Chase Seale run 3D Okanagan, a company specializing in small-scale 3D projects. In addition to the Trick-or-Treat bowls, they’ve created a touchless keychain object, aiding users with turning lights on and off as well as opening doors. Both projects have been the result of finding creative solutions to COVID-related problems.

Quincy DeWitt, Mechanical Engineering instructor at the Kelowna campus said the trio has, “done just what we encourage: innovate practical designs and make them a reality by putting them into production.”

“It’s great to see our students applying their skills to a project that’s for the public’s safety and that helps people to have some fun on Halloween,” DeWitt said.

To purchase a Trick-or-Treat bowl, go to 3D Okanagan’s Facebook page.