2019 Pumpkin Carving Contest Results

The 7th Annual CBC Pumpkin Carving Contest was last night and the participants made some scary good creations! The entries ranged from ghosts to French Revolution era chemists to professors from our very own department.


Congratulations to this year’s winners:

  • Best Overall: Tom Fanning, Blake Hartline, Meet Patel, and anonymous
  • Best in “STEM” category: Jenna Fryer and Cathryn Schoeppner
  • Best in “Spooky” category: Siqi Wang, Bobby Zhang, and Hongxuan Zhao
  • Best in “OSU” category: Sankara Jeyabalan, Dorothy Nie, and Sachi Walmiki
  • Best in “Wildcard” category: Matt Allen, Julie Meyer, Stephanie Secic, and Brittany Shook

Thank you all who participated. We hope you will join us next year!

Pumpkin Carving Contest – Save the Date

Round up a group of your CBC friends (teams of 1 to 4 people), and come carve pumpkins (and eat pizza) with us!

Where: Celeste Lobby
When: Wednesday, October 30th at 5:30pm
Judging will take place at 7:00pm

The window to RSVP has passed! Please check back for photos of the winning pumpkins.

Congratulations Pumpkin Carvers!

The winners of the 6th Annual CBC Pumpkin Carving Contest have been determined! A panel of  CBC judges deliberated over the excellent entries, which ranged from spooky Halloween scenes, pop culture figures, science puns, and more.

Special congratulations to the winners:
  • Winner of Best Overall: Cathryn Schoeppner & Jenna Fryer
  • Winner of STEM Category: Nathan Kudlapur, Andrew Cypcar, & David Wood
  • Winner of Ohio State Category: Han Wang, Guagqi Zhao, Jasmine Shi, & Sil Xu
  • Winner of Spooky Category: Kendra Polson & Alexis Weiss
  • Winner of Wildcard Category: Carlie Watt, Leah Pastor, & Sophie Rozenbojm

Spotlight on Chemistry: Pumpkins

Nothing says fall quite like a pumpkin. From Jack O’ Lanterns and coffee flavors, to center pieces for your Thanksgiving table, this seasonal squash is an autumn staple. Let’s take a look at the chemistry that has us falling for pumpkins year after year.

pumpkin-chemistry
Wait, so my pumpkin spice treat isn’t really pumpkin?

Pumpkin spice Twinkies, Cheerioes, lattes, beer, cinnamon rolls, and Oreos. Nope! And your pumpkin pie probably isn’t either. The “pumpkin” used in your pie is actually a specially bred sweet squash that is less watery and fibrous than your typical carving pumpkin. Both pumpkin pie and pumpkin spice flavored foods rely more on their blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and clove than the gourd itself for their flavor. Since natural spices don’t produce consistent flavoring in large-scale commercial food production, the molecules that produce the flavor in these spices (cinnamaldehyde & pinene are among these) are often added instead.

You can read more about the flavor chemistry of your favorite fall treats in this Chemical & Engineering News article.

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Round up a group of your CBC friends (teams of 1 to 4 people), and come carve pumpkins (and eat pizza) with us!

Where: Celeste Lobby
When: Monday, October 29th at 5:30pm
Judging will take place at 7:00pm
Judging categories:
STEM, Spooky, OSU, Wildcard, and the Best Overall!
Prizes will be given out for the winner of EACH category!

Each team will be provided with a pumpkin to carve and a simple carving kit. Additional carving tools and/or props from home are encouraged!

The window to RSVP has passed! Please check back for photos of the winning pumpkins. 

Pumpkin Carving Contest – Save the Date


Round up a group of your CBC friends (teams of 1 to 4 people), and come carve pumpkins (and eat pizza) with us!

Where: Celeste Lobby
When: Monday, October 29th at 5:30pm
Judging will take place at 7:00pm
Judging categories:
STEM, Spooky, OSU, Wildcard, and the Best Overall!

Prizes will be given out for the winners of EACH category!
RSVP link will be available soon!

Pumpkin Carving Contest – Monday, October 30

CBC’s Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest – October 30th

The window to RSVP has passed! Please check back for photos of the winning pumpkins.

Round up a group of your CBC friends, and come carve pumpkins (and eat pizza) with us!
Where: Celeste Lobby
When: October 30th at 5:30 PM
Judging will take place at 7 PM
Judging categories:
STEM, Halloween-y, OSU, Wildcard, and the BEST OVERALL!

Prizes will be given out for the winner of EACH category!

Each team will be provided with a pumpkin to carve and a simple carving kit. Additional carving tools and/or props from home are highly encouraged! You must enter your team (1-4 people) using the form below to reserve a pumpkin and participate.

Spotlight on Chemistry: Pumpkins

Nothing says fall quite like a pumpkin. From Jack O’ Lanterns and coffee flavors, to center pieces for your Thanksgiving table, this seasonal squash is an autumn staple. Let’s take a look at the chemistry that has us falling for pumpkins year after year.

pumpkin-chemistry
Wait, so my pumpkin spice treat isn’t really pumpkin?

Pumpkin spice Twinkies, Cheerioes, lattes, beer, cinnamon rolls, and Oreos. Nope! And your pumpkin pie probably isn’t either. The “pumpkin” used in your pie is actually a specially bred sweet squash that is less watery and fibrous than your typical carving pumpkin. Both pumpkin pie and pumpkin spice flavored foods rely more on their blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and clove than the gourd itself for their flavor. Since natural spices don’t produce consistent flavoring in large-scale commercial food production, the molecules that produce the flavor in these spices (cinnamaldehyde & pinene are among these) are often added instead.

You can read more about the flavor chemistry of your favorite fall treats in this Chemical & Engineering News article.

This infographic was created by Andy Brunning.

Congratulations Pumpkin Carvers!

The winners of the annual CBC Pumpkin Carving Contest have been determined! A panel of  CBC judges deliberated over the excellent entries, which ranged from spooky Halloween scenes, pop culture figures, science puns, and more.

Special congratulations to the winners:
  • Best Overall Pumpkin: Shiuao Ying, Chenxi Yuan, & Yongdan Wang
  • Best Science Pumpkin: Xin Gu, Xuyao Gao, Keyang Yu, & Buyun Liu
  • Best Buckeye Spirit Pumpkin: Hui Huang & Yuyu Li
  • Funniest Pumpkin: Sidney Sillart & Nathan Yoshino

Did you take photos of your pumpkin this year? We’d love to see them and feature them here on the blog! Submit them below.

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2016 CBC Pumpkin Carving Contest

It’s back! Wednesday, October 26th 5:30 – 7:30 PM  in Celeste Lab

Pop CulturIMG_0729Spookiest

 

Enjoy snacks, claim your pumpkin, and plan your design until carving begins at 6:00. Then, it’s all hands on deck to put together a prize-worthy pumpkin entry for the judges by 7:00! Prizes will be awarded after judge deliberation at 7:30. Take your pumpkin home or leave it on display in the Undergraduate Studies Office!

 The deadline to register for this event has passed. We’ll see you next year!