The Pumpkin Ramble, an annual pumpkin carving contest organized by the Georgia Tech student chapter of Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) members, celebrates the design process under the guise of a relaxed holiday celebration.

The event started as a part of the first-year design curriculum. After spending a week studying the work of a famous designer, students would carve a pumpkin in the style of designer.  Today it involves the entire school, and students have less than two hours to turn raw pumpkins into something creative and interesting. "It requires creative thinking, to come up with an idea;" said Kevin Shankwiler, senior lecturer and undergraduate program coordinator, "artistry, to bring that idea to life; and you have to understand the pumpkin itself as a material of manufacture."