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Friday, 2/9/2001
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Friday, 2/9/2001
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 Students to participate in engineering contest
By Emily Baldauf Members of the National Society of Black Engineers have been spending quite a bit of time in the grocery store lately. They’ve been trying to find the perfect apple. "After a lot of consideration, we finally decided on the Granny Smith apple because it’s a littler more firmer than most other apples, and it’s smaller," said Gerrad Bailey, a junior in the Schools of Engineering and a member of the National Society of Black Engineers. The quest for the perfect apple, which intrigued many engineering societies on campus, is only the first step in competing in Purdue's 19th annual Rube Goldberg Contest. The event will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in Elliott Hall of Music and is free and open to the public. The Rube Goldberg machine contest is named after cartoonist Rueben Lucius Goldberg, whose cartoons satirized the machines and gadgets he saw as excessive. In his drawings, he would often combine simple machines with household appliances to create complex machines that inevitably accomplished a minimal task. His name had become so associated with his drawings that the Webster’s Dictionary included "rube goldberg" to its listing, defining it as "accomplishing by extremely complex, roundabout means what seemingly could be done simply." The contest began at Purdue in 1949, when two fraternities, Triangle and Theta Tau, developed their own version of the Rube Goldberg contest. It was initially part of the festivities of the Engineering Ball. However, when the ball ended in 1955, the contest did too. In 1983, some members of Theta Tau Fraternity were cleaning the basement and found the original trophy from Purdue’s first Rube Goldberg machine contest. "When some members found the old trophy, they became interested, did some research and worked hard to bring the contest back to Purdue," said Fernando Cordero, this year’s contest chairman and a junior in the School of Management. "This contest has become one of the most important things we do on campus. It is an important tradition because this is what keeps us really involved with campus." This year’s contest requires that teams build a machine to select, clean and peel an apple in 20 steps or more, and the process must take nine minutes or less. Initially, Cordero wanted to have the teams build a machine that would put a fake fish in a bowl of water. However, he feared some teams might try to use a real fish so they agreed on the apple idea. Students majoring in engineering and science traditionally combine principles of physics and engineering along with common objects such a rubber bands, marbles and mousetraps to construct their machines. Teams will be judged on the creativity demonstrated in selecting materials and themes. Points will be deducted if team members have to assist their machine during the contest. Six engineering societies are competing this year, which is an increase from last year’s competition. "I think this year we gave the competition more advertising and tried to get more teams involved, so our numbers went up," Cordero said. Purdue teams competing on Saturday are from the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Members of the teams have been working hard to complete their projects. For example, Beau Wendholt, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers contest chairman and a senior in the School of Technology, said that someone from his team has been working on the project almost every night since Winter Break. "I think when you first get involved, it sparks an interest because it’s entertaining and fun," Wendholt said. "For someone with an interest in engineering, it sort of captures you." The winning team will represent Purdue at the National Rube Goldberg Contest on April 7 at West Lafayette High School. Last year, the Purdue Society of Women Engineers placed third in the national competition. "To win this contest and go all the way to Nationals would be almost an indescribable feeling of pride and accomplishment," Wendholt said.
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Students to participate in engineering contest Classes help review for law exam Purdue professor to appear at book-signing fundraiser Musician releases crossover album Campus House presents lively production Students vie for concerto spot Illustrator to speak at Purdue BCC to host annual valentine event tonight Album lacks depth, entertainment value Jazz band travels to University Inn for Evening of Romance Saturday
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 Purdue Exponent 2001 | |||||||
