Creative problem solving is a bedrock element of the Knock Knock Children’s Museum in Baton Rouge, so when it came time to replace the mechanical crane in the “By You Building!” learning zone, the Knock Knock team had to brainstorm ways to get the crane functioning again.
After seven years of service and many children’s hands later, the beloved giant mechanical crane was in disrepair and kept breaking.
“We’re a non profit organization,” said Christina Melton, the executive director of Knock Knock Children’s Museum, “and it’s expensive for us to try to fix something like this. We got a bid that was out of our price range, and so we had to be creative in the way we are encouraging children to solve problems.”
LSU School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering students put the pieces of the new crane together at the Knock Knock Children’s Museum.
Melton was familiar with the LSU School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering’s Senior Capstone Program, which tasks senior engineering students with real-world design challenges, because her son graduated from there in 2024. She went to LSU for help.
Melton and her team attended the Capstone Design Fair in August 2024, and she pitched the “Redesign and Rebuild Our Crane” project to the LSU School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.
The project garnered huge interest from the LSU engineering students and, out of 40 pitches, was one of the more sought-after projects in the pitch meeting, competing with the likes of Exxon, Dow Chemical and NASA.
LSU School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering students who designed and built the Knock Knock Children’s Museum new crane. From left to right, Angelina Jorgenson, Patrick Herke, Caleb Hagen, Michael Hotcaveg, Emanuel Ochoa, and John Leblanc.
A team of engineering seniors — including Caleb Hagen, Patrick Herke, Michael Hotcaveg, Angelina Jorgenson, Emanuel Ochoa and John Leblanc — grabbed the chance to work on a community-driven assignment.
“I was interested because I wanted to do this for my little nephew,” said Hagen, the team leader. “He’s just the joy of everybody’s life, so I really wanted to make sure that I could have something for, not only him, but others to enjoy for years to come. It’s all about community goodwill and seeing the smile on the kids’ faces.”
The engineering students spent the 2024-2025 school year meeting with the Knock Knock Children’s Museum staff, consulting with exhibit designers from around the country, working with Baton Rouge engineering firm Hargrove and Associates, Inc. and Port Allen fabrication company Fab-Worx to complete the project.
On the Knock Knock Museum’s mechanical crane redesigned by a team of LSU engineering students, Team Lead Caleb Hagen inscribed a message for his nephew, to whom he dedicated this project.
“The community came together to make it happen,” Melton said.
The project was funded in part by an anonymous donation. Hargrove and Associates, Inc. provided professional engineering certification for the design and construction, and Fab-Worx donated the welding and fabrication of the new crane. Dimitris E. Nikitopoulos, LSU’s Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department Chair, sponsored the engineering students’ project.
Hagen noted that the engineering team’s primary concern was making sure the crane design was safe for children and easy to operate. The team worked with a certified playground safety inspector to ensure they were following everything to the letter of the law.
The Knock Knock Museum officially opens their new and improved kid-powered crane at the Mechanical Crane Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Team Celebration on May 22, 2025.
With an opening on May 22, the new kid-powered crane is an interactive, engineering-inspired attraction that gives young builders the power to move, lift and load large foam blocks, teaching them to become mini problem solvers and future crane operators.
The crane helps children build gross and fine motor skills and introduces early engineering concepts like force and motion to the children who operate it. With the new transparent design, children operating the crane can see its inner workings as they activate simple machines like gears, pulleys and levers.
“We also wanted to make sure we could show off everything,” Hagen said. “Kids really just want to see how things move. They might not quite understand how all the gear reductions work, but they can see them.”
The Knock Knock Museum’s new and improved mechanical crane showcases the simple machines used in its operation. This interactive exhibit, redesigned by a team of LSU engineering students, is now open in the museum’s popular Learning Zone, By You Building.
The new crane, larger and sturdier than its predecessor, is also designed to be durable enough to withstand the thousands of little hands that will play with it for years to come.
Melton said all of the young engineers — homegrown Louisiana talent — are a testament to the stellar students LSU is putting out. Not only are they skilled, but the students want to make a difference in the community.
“I’ve seen the amount of work on a small scale that the team has put in,” said Levar Greenhouse, the chair of the Knock Knock Children’s Museum Executive Committee, who visited the lab at LSU during the process. “I’ve seen the stress. I know it had to be hard being a senior trying to graduate, putting this project together with six different team members who have their own goals and objectives. We really appreciate it.”
LSU School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering students put the pieces of the new crane together at the Knock Knock Children’s Museum.
Hagen credits the capstone project with supplying him a priceless experience. He had to learn welding standards, how to conduct a proper analysis and learn how to do the machining.
“I wouldn’t be the same person if I did not have this,” he said. “I have learned so much as a result of this. They don’t teach you everything you need to know in engineering, but you’re taught how to be a problem solver. We did a really good job of powering through, making sure we could find the people who knew the right answers so we could get this done.”
Hagen’s four-year-old nephew was the first child to try out the new crane. He loved it.
