New engineering council contest takes complicated to new heights

The inaugural Purdue National Chain Reaction Competition hosted by the Purdue Engineering Student Council. (Purdue University photo/PESC) Download image

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — How complicated can university students make something as simple as squeezing toothpaste onto a toothbrush? Four teams are going to show off their efforts this weekend.

The inaugural Purdue National Chain Reaction Competition will take place on Saturday (March 2) at the France A. Córdova Recreational Sports Center. The Purdue Engineering Student Council is hosting the event and it is open to the public.

The daylong event will include four teams: the American Society of Engineers from University of Texas at Austin; the Association for Mechanical and Electrical Technologists and the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers Chain Reaction Team, both from Purdue; and the Rube Goldberg Society from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Teams will set up their machines in the morning, with the first round taking place at 1 p.m. After a reset, the machines will run one more time at 2 p.m. with awards following at 3 p.m.

The event will be livestreamed on the Purdue Engineering Student Council Facebook page.

Lauren Heiss, said the competition’s mission is to unite machine contest enthusiasts from universities across the country in a contest by students for students.

“This will help display the various teams’ hard work in creating a machine that completes a simple task,” she said. “This event has been specifically designed by the teams involved to create the best competition environment possible.”

According to contest rules, teams must use at least 30 steps in order to squeeze the toothpaste onto the toothbrush. The teams may choose their preferred size and style of toothpaste and toothbrush.

The Purdue National Chain Reaction Competition takes the place of the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, which this year changed its team member rules to allow no contestants older than 18. The Chain Reaction Competition is not affiliated with the Rube Goldberg contest. 

Writer: Brian Huchel, 765-494-2084, bhuchel@purdue.edu 

Source: Lauren Heiss, pesccr@ecn.purdue.edu