Design Squad is a PBS reality television series geared towards middle and high-school children, where contestants design whimsical machines in order to win an Intel college scholarship worth $10,000. The show is produced by WGBH.
Episode 1
A professional racecar builder challenges the DS teams to convert kiddie toys—a red wagon and tricycle—into motorized dragsters. Fasten your seatbelts for Design Squad's racy debut!
Episode 2
The teams compete to create original musical instruments—one stringed and one percussive—for Off White Noise, a local band. The instruments are put to the test when Off White Noise rocks out at the Middle East nightclub.
Episode 3
When a guy named Skunk comes looking for a bike bizarre enough to impress the members of SCUL (Subversive Choppers Urban Legion), well, you give him what he wants. The rubber really hits the road when DS parades their newly created choppers (bikes) on a SCUL mission.
Episode 4
The teams take a crash course in pre-industrial building techniques, as they compete to build 20-foot bridges—without the aid of power tools, forklifts, or...flushable toilets. It's a show for the (Middle) Ages!
Episode 5
Challenged to come up with a way to cover all the angles of a basketball game via remote-controlled cameras, the teams dive into action and compete to prove who's got (the whole) game!
Episode 6
The teams set their sights on designing the most durable, portable and low cost peanut butter making machines for a women's collective in Haiti. Powered by human hands and inspiring to the human heart, DS shows that engineering really can change lives.
Episode 7
The challenge: design a REVOLUTIONary device that automatically feeds a stream of balls to Michael Parkhurst, a professional soccer player with the New England Revolution. Here's one Design Squad's episode that's sure to be a ball.
Episode 8
It's a marriage of high tech and haute couture (well, sort of!) as the teams compete to see who can design the best dual-purpose clothing. Join DS on the runway as the garments/gadgets make their fashion debut.
Episode 9
How to make a perfect pancake? The DS teams seek the right ingredients for a machine that will cook, flip, and serve up delicious flapjacks at the flick of a switch. The winning machine is put to the (taste) test at a busy diner.
Episode 10
An 11-foot tall water slide will be a cool addition to the community pool...once there's a pump to deliver the water. See which invention makes the biggest splash with YMCA campers.
Episode 11
The teams tap into their inner artists as they compete to design and build wind-powered kinetic art from recycled materials. The winning sculpture is put on display at the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, Massachusetts.
Episode 12
DESIGN SQUAD-ers take a shine to hip-hop artist Wyatt Jackson when they try to create a sound and light show triggered by Jackson's moves and grooves. In a live performance, it's DS night at the Strand Theatre!
Episode 13
The season concludes when Continuum (a design consulting firm) asks the DS teams to develop and test a "summer sled" for retail giant L.L. Bean. It's a bumpy, downhill slide to the finish line!
