Area colleges host first national wacky machine contest for teens
| Published: 04/15/2004 |
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Election-themed Rube Goldberg contest is Friday, April 30
Nearly 50 Wisconsin high schools to compete in state contest
It’s an assignment tailor-made for teenagers: make a simple task as complicated as possible. In this case, the kids will produce a machine to perform a roundabout result.
High school teams from five Midwest states will gather Friday, April 30 at State Fair Park to compete in the first-ever national Rube Goldberg Machine-Building Contest Contest™© for teens. The event is named after the Pulitzer-winning cartoonist and engineer who became famous for his cartoons of overly complicated machines designed to accomplish something simple.
The event will be held on the same day as the seventh annual Wisconsin Rube Goldberg Contest for high school students, which will be held in the morning.
Both contests are hosted by the Milwaukee Colleges of Engineering Partnership, which includes the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Marquette University, Milwaukee Area Technical College and Waukesha County Technical College.
The challenge for all teams will be to “select, mark and cast an election ballot in 20 or more steps.”
More than 40 teams are registered for the statewide contest, including 13 from the metro Milwaukee area.
In past Wisconsin contests, the challenge has been equally mundane – like putting toothpaste on a toothbrush or peeling an apple – but the results are anything but. Students carry out their mission by using a plethora of junk, from mousetraps and showerheads to bowling balls and even Barbie dolls. Duct tape has been used so liberally that a separate award is given to the team that unwinds the most. Teams get extra points for producing a machine that operates without electricity.
Judges drawn from area businesses, industries, and associations will narrow the field to five finalists in the state competition. The first place team wins $750 and the second-place winners are awarded $500.
In the national contest – which includes two teams each from Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana – first-place is $1,000 and a $2,000 scholarship for each team member. The second-place team takes home $500 and each team member is given a $1,000 scholarship.
Corporate sponsors include Kohler Co.; A.O. Smith Corp.; Briggs & Stratton Corp.; Capitol Stampings Corp.; We Energies; Eaton Corp.; Earth Tech; and Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer & Associates.
Schools participating in Wisconsin Rube Goldberg Contest (two will go on to Nationals)
WHAT: Rube Goldberg Contests for students
WHERE: State Fair Park Expo Center
WHEN: Friday, April 30, 2004
7:30 a.m. Wisconsin Contest check-in
7:45 a.m. Welcome
8:00 a.m. Wisconsin Contest begins
10:30 a.m. Awards Ceremony
Noon Lunch
1:00 p.m. National Contest check-in
1:30 p.m. National Contest begins
4:00 p.m. Awards Ceremony
5:00 p.m. Departure
OPERATIONS CONTACT: Ester Johnson at UW-Milwaukee, (414) 229-3882, ebj@uwm.edu
MEDIA CONTACTS: Kathleen McCann at MSOE, (414) 277-7117, mccann@msoe.edu; or Laura Hunt at UW-Milwaukee, (414) 229-6447, llhunt@uwm.edu.