Rube Goldberg Contest at Purdue
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David Cannon (from left), Alex Weaver and Matt Miller react to a
flawless run of their Purdue Society of Professional Engineers/Society
of Professional Hispanic Engineers machine at the Purdue local Rube
Goldberg competition Saturday (Feb. 26). (Purdue University photo/Mark
Simons) |
What is the competition?
Inspired by cartoonist Rube Goldberg, college students nationwide compete to design a machine that uses the most complex process to complete a simple task - put a stamp on an envelope, screw in a light bulb, make a cup of coffee - in 20 or more steps.
The competition is sponsored by the Purdue University campus chapter of Theta Tau, a professional engineering fraternity.
When are the 2012 contests?
The 2012 regional contest at Purdue University will be on Feb. 25, in the Purdue Armory.
The 2012 national contest at Purdue University will be on Mar. 31, in Elliott Hall of Music.
What is the 2012 task?
The 2012 task will be to inflate and then pop a balloon.
When were the 2011 contests?
The 2011 regional contest at Purdue University was on Feb. 26, in the Purdue Armory.
The 2011 national contest was on Mar. 26 at 9:30 a.m. in the Purdue Armory.
Who are the 2011 Regional winners?
A team from the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers on Saturday (Feb. 26) won the 29th annual Purdue Regional Rube Goldberg Machine Contest with a machine that traced the history of the world. Full news release
Who were the 2011 National winners?
Defending champion University of Wisconsin-Stout won the 24th annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest on Saturday (March 26) at Purdue University.
Saturday's competition was only the second time Wisconsin-Stout has competed. Its machine told the story of a deserted Louisiana estate whose ghosts come to life with the full moon Full news release
How did the contest gain national prominence?
The contest began as a rivalry between two Purdue engineering fraternities and was popular at Purdue in the 1940s and 1950s. It was revived in 1983. Since then, winners have appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "Newton's Apple," "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," "Late Night With David Letterman," NBC's "Today," CBS's "This Morning," CBS News, "Beyond 2000," CNN and ABC's "Good Morning America."
