Former robotics company founder Tom Burick led neurodivergent students in building a full-scale ENIAC replica using cardboard, hot glue, and 18,000 simulated vacuum tubes.
Key Takeaways
The replica matches ENIAC’s original U-shaped layout of 40 panels before its 1955 disassembly; no complete version exists anywhere.
Materials: ~300 sq meters of cardboard, 1,600 hot-glue sticks, 7 gallons of black paint – zero electronics required for the build goal.
Burick’s White Box Robotics sold ~200 modular PC-Bot robots in 17 countries before the 2008 crisis shut it down in 2010.
Neurodivergent student traits – hyperfocus, precise task repetition – were deliberately leveraged; Burick himself has dyscalculia and credits it for strong 3D spatial reasoning.
Prior student projects include a drivable 8-foot Tesla Cybertruck; next target is an Apollo mission recreation.
