Design 2.007, MIT's annual festival of machine design, manufacturing and adrenalin, culminated in a clash between two major crowd-pleasers: a grappler-trailer combo designed and driven by David Arguelles, and a truck-and-winch machine designed and driven by Kurtis McKenney. The contest, now in its 29th year, is an elimination round tournament that provides a thrilling and challenging end to Design and Manufacturing I, taught by Professor Alexander H. Slocum. The course begins in February as each student is presented with a green box stuffed with items ranging from windshield wiper motors to springs, string and Duplo blocks. This year's version of the annual contest, known as MechEverest because of the gravity-defying climb required of each machine, took place in Johnson Athletic Center on May 5 and 6, 1999. Read the full story here.

This video was produced by Craig Milanesi of MIT Video Productions for 2.007.