Design That! 2025

Official Logo of Roger That

To commemorate the life of Grand Rapids’ own Roger B. Chaffee, Grand Valley State University and Grand Rapids Public Museum are co-hosting the eighth annual Roger That! symposium on the weekend of February 14-15, 2025. We’re planning both in-person and virtual activities.

We invite interested 4th – 8th grade students in the greater Grand Rapids area to participate in Design That! - a design challenge that focuses on four major areas related to space exploration.

Problems to solve:

  • Humans in Space
  • Communities in Space
  • Technology in Space
  • Communication and Space

Participation Guidelines

  • Explain concepts related to space or space exploration.
  • Write a story or perform a play about space travel or life in space.
  • Design clothing, buildings, or devices for space travel or life in space
  • Build physical devices (robots or models) to be used in space exploration.
  • Create a webpage or computer model relevant to space or space exploration.
  • Discuss historical events in space exploration, such as moon landings and other missions.

Online Design That! Submission

Design That entry from 2024

Design That! Information video

For Design That!, students are encouraged to design and build physical or virtual objects or use non-fictional and fictional narrative styles to present challenges related to space exploration. This is an exciting competition that gives individuals or teams of 2-6 students a chance to win prizes and the opportunity to present their work as part of a space-focused conference at Grand Valley State University. 



Page last modified October 23, 2024