| VIDEO |
 * Engineering students from around the nation come to Purdue for the Rube Goldberg Machine Competition. (3 minute, 31 seconds) |
March 26, 2008
Inefficient burger-making skills put to test at Rube Goldberg national contest
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - |
The contest, which is free and open to the public, begins at 10:30 a.m. in the Purdue Armory. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. Lunch will be available for purchase at the event.
The competition, sponsored by Phi Chapter of Theta Tau fraternity, rewards machines that most effectively combine creativity with inefficiency and complexity. Machines must complete the assigned task in 20 or more steps. This year's task is to assemble a hamburger consisting of no less than one precooked meat patty, two vegetables and two condiments, sandwiched between two bun halves.
The Purdue Society of Professional Engineers team advanced to the national competition after winning this year's preliminary contest on Feb. 23 at Purdue. The 17-member team has won the regional competition for four consecutive years and received the People's Choice Award, which is voted on by the approximately 1,500 audience members.
"We have had strong interest from universities from across the country for the national competition, so we're expecting a good contest," said Mike Mierzwa, a junior in nuclear engineering from Morris Plains, N.J., and national contest co-chair. "Each team puts many hours of hard work into their machines, and each year's competition is not just entertaining, but a good example of what great minds can accomplish when they work together."
Teams competing in this year's national competition are: Purdue; Ferris State University, Big Rapids, Mich.; Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Mich.; Penn State University, State College, Pa., Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas; the University at Buffalo, Buffalo, N.Y., and the University of Texas-Austin.
Ferris State won last year's national competition. The Purdue Society of Professional Engineers won in 2005 and 2006.
Sponsors for this year's event are BAE Systems, Bosch Group Inc., Bose Corp., Daimler-Chrysler Corp., Fluor Corp., General Electric Co., Kimberly-Clark Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., Omega Engineering Inc. of Stamford, Conn., Priio and Rockwell Collins Inc. Purdue's College of Engineering and College of Technology also support the event.
The contest's namesake is the late cartoonist Rube Goldberg, who specialized in drawing whimsical machines with complex mechanisms to perform simple tasks.
While 20 steps is the minimum number required to complete the task, most teams will use many more. For example, the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers used 101 steps to assemble a hamburger sandwich to win Purdue's regional competition.
Winning machines must complete two successful runs, and points are deducted if students have to assist the machine once it has started. Judges award points based on the creative use of materials and related themes.
In previous contests, students' machines have been required to squeeze the juice from an orange and pour it into a glass; select, clean and peel an apple; toast a piece of bread; put a stamp on an envelope; and drop a penny into a piggy bank. Winners have appeared on television shows nationally, including CBS' "This Morning," ABC's "Good Morning America," NBC's "Today," "The Late Show," "Newton's Apple," "Ripley's Believe it or Not," Fox News Network and CNN. Last year's winner appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live."
The National High School Rube Goldberg Machine Contest will follow the Purdue national competition awards ceremony. The high school event is being coordinated by the Phi Chapter of Theta Tau and will begin at 2 p.m. at the Purdue Armory.
Competing in the national high school contest are teams from Alan B. Shepard High School, Palos Heights, Ill.; East Jordan (Mich.) High School; Kouts (Ind.) High School; Lanesville (Ind.) High School; Mackinaw City (Mich.) High School; Maumee (Ohio) High School; Pekin (Ill.) Community High School; and Thorp (Wis.) High School.
Writer: Kim Medaris, (765) 494-6998, kmedaris@purdue.edu
Sources: Mike Mierzwa, (201) 563-5071, mmierzwa@purdue.edu
Nick Kissel, national contest co-chairman, (812) 736-9175, nkissel@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
PHOTO CAPTION:
Drew Wischer, left, a senior in aviation technology from Cedarburg, Wis., and Zach Umperovitch, a sophomore in engineering from Lafayette, Ind., celebrate a successful run of their team's machine in the regional Rube Goldberg Machine Contest held at Purdue on Feb. 23. Their team, the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers, won the contest for the fourth year in a row. The team will represent Purdue in the April 5 national contest. (Purdue News Service photo/David Umberger)
Publication quality photo is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2008/rube08reg-winner.jpg
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