Once again, we will be hosting Engineering Day including
spontaneous design activities, mouse trap car races and
a machine design competition. There will be two levels of
machine competition: Senior for high schools and Junior
for 8th grade classes.
Competition will be held in the Walker Cisler Center on
the campus of Lake Superior State University. Doors will
open at 8 a.m. for set-up. Competition begins at 9 a.m.
Please register your teams by 5 p.m. on Friday, March 9.
Machine essays describing how the machine functions and the steps used must be submitted by 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 14. They can either be mailed, e-mailed or faxed. See registration form for addresses and numbers.
Senior Division teams are limited to three per school and six "official"
members per team, of which only two may come into contact
with the machine during competiton. Medals and certificates
are awarded to first through third place, ribbons for first
through fourth, and a traveling trophy for first. Please see Competition Challenge for rule change.
Junior Division teams
are also limited to three per school, eight members per
team of which only two may come into contact with the machine
during competition. Ribbons and certificates are awarded
for first through fourth place and a trophy for first.
Mouse trap car teams
are limited to two members. At this time, there is no limit
to the number of teams. Ribbons are awarded to first through
fourth for speed and distance, and a trophy to the combined
first place winner.
We have set the date a month later than usual to encourage
participation in events such as FIRST and still have the
opportunity to attend Engineering Day. To register your
team, please send an e-mail to: jmshibly@lssu.edu.
Following are downloadable Word documents. The judging
form will help you see how your machine will be judged
during competition.
The registration forms ask for t-shirt quantities and sizes. The department has chosen instead to give participants insulated lunch bags. We hope you will find our substituted item more useful and enjoyable.
Please note: The Rube Goldberg organization
has made several changes this year, and there will not be
a national competition until spring 2008 at Purdue University.
The organization is focusing on increasing competitions
at the local and regional levels. In addition, the organization
has introduced a $300 per team fee, of which we were able
to get the organization to waive $200. We believe it is
in the best interest of our participating schools and the
current economic climate of most Michigan school districts
to encourage a competition based on creativity, developing
teamwork and a positive experience versus fund-raising and
potentially-increased levels of competition intensity. Therefore,
this year we are holding our event "independent"
of the official Rube Goldberg organization at no cost to
our participants. However, we will use the challenge and
rules devised by Rube Goldberg, Inc. in order to continue
the consistency of past competitions.
Rube
Goldberg is the ® and © of Rube Goldberg Inc.
The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest is the (SM) of Rube Goldberg
Inc.
SENIOR DIVISION : In
a minimum of 10 steps, juice an orange, then pour the juice
from a pitcher into a cup.
Note change: from minimum of 20 steps to 10.
Q&A:
- Orange cannot be peeled prior to the start of the machine.
- At least 1 tablespoon of juice must make it into the cup.
- The "pitcher" must have a lip and handle.
JUNIOR DIVISION : In
a minimum of 10 steps, split an orange wide open.
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