In 2006, as part of a hack against the California Institute of Technology, the fictitious moving company Howe & Ser absconded with Caltech’s Fleming House cannon. By the time it arrived at MIT, it sported a giant Brass Rat. Manufactured in the Edgerton Center student machine shop, the ring weighed 21 pounds and was precision-machined in three parts from solid aluminum, then gold-plated, and finally secured to the cannon with four set screws.

Before the cannon was returned to Pasadena, the Brass Rat was removed and is now part of the MIT Museum’s permanent collection.