The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), University Park chapter, won the Penn State Regional Rube Goldberg Machine Contest for the fifth year in a row on Saturday afternoon at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel.

In addition to winning a trophy and cash prize, ASME University Park earned the chance to represent Penn State at the national competition on March 30 in Columbus, Ohio.

Teams representing four other Penn State student organizations also competed in the contest: ASME, Harrisburg chapter; the Chinese Undergraduate Student Association (CUSA); the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and the Engineering Leadership Society (ELS).

All teams were challenged to use innovative ideas, unconventional problem-solving skills and a little humor to design and build a machine that hammered a nail in 20 or more steps.

ASME UP Wins 5th straight regional title

All teams were challenged to use innovative ideas, unconventional problem-solving skills and a little humor to design and build a machine that hammered a nail in 20 or more steps.

ASME Harrisburg placed second in the overall contest, followed by ELS in third place. The People’s Choice Award went to ASME Harrisburg’s machine, which featured favorite toys from childhood including old video gaming systems, a bowling ball and guitars.

Teams were judged on two runs of their machine and had the option of voiding one of their first two runs in favor of a third, provided the void was called before the task was completed.

All five teams used the time between rounds to make adjustments or repairs to their machines.

ASME Harrisburg wins the People’s Choice Award

            Between the rounds, four Engineering Ambassadors, an engineering student organization focused on community outreach, gave presentations about simple machines and the magic of engineering while the competitors reset their machines for the next round. Kids were invited up to the stage to view one of the presentations, which combined a speaker and Non-Newtonian Fluid, also known as Oobleck.

Engineering Ambassadors entertain the audience during intermissions.

All five teams used the intermissions to make adjustments or repairs to their machines.

IEEE ran into slight difficulties during their first run. “It could’ve gone better, everything was working before we left,” said Michael Rybar, an electrical engineering senior. “We were glad the audience was rooting for us despite everything and were really into it.”

Throughout the months leading up to the event, teams put countless amounts of hours into building their machines.

CUSA team captain, Xiaomo Zhang, a junior in aerospace engineering, says that him and his team dedicated more than 100 hours to the entire process. “This is a really meaningful activity and it is good to interact with the community, gain leadership experience and create machine designs,” he explained.

ELS team captain, Yolainne Moran, who agreed, adding that she really enjoyed the entire process of the contest and bringing in new ideas from the freshman members of the organization. ELS featured a machine with the “Luck of the Irish” theme.

A young audience member gets the chance to see the ELS machine up close

ASME University Park came up with their idea for their machine after throwing around several ideas between team members said team captain Alec Tanida, a senior in mechanical engineering. “We knew that an Avengers theme would be good because it is relevant and would get the attention of kids with Captain America and the Hulk,” he recalled.

­­­­­­Tanida competed in the 2011 and 2012 national competitions as a member of the 2011 and 2012 ASME University Park teams and said that it really helped him and some of his teammates prepare for the regional competition and calm under pressure.

ELS, third place, 2013 Penn State Rube Goldberg Regional Contest

The entire team will head to the national Rube Goldberg Machine Contest in Columbus, OH at the end of March. ASME placed second and third at the 2011 and 2012 national competition, respectively.

ASME Harrisburg Second place, 2013 Penn State Rube Goldberg Regional Contest

The contest is named after Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, Reuben Lucius Goldberg, who drew cartoons that combined simple machine parts and household items to create contraptions that accomplished simple tasks in a laughable number of excess steps. Although he never built any of his machines, Goldberg’s creative thought process and innovation have become an inspiration to engineers and scientists all over the world.

More information about the event is available at: www.engr.psu.edu/RubeGoldberg.

The deadline to nominate faculty members for the Lawrence J. Perez Memorial Student Advocate Award is Friday, March 1.

The award recognizes a College of Engineering faculty member who contributes to the welfare of students and enriches the College by his or her willingness to devote significant time and effort to assist students academically and/or personally as they pursue their engineering degrees.

Award recipients get $3,000 and a plaque.

Individual students, the Engineering Student Council, student engineering honor societies or student engineering professional societies may make nominations for this award through an essay between 500 and 1,500 words.

All full-time faculty in the College may receive this award no more than once every four years. Previous recipients can be found on this website:  http://www.engr.psu.edu/alumnifriends/awards/perez/pastrecipients.aspx

Submissions can be delivered to Stefanie Tomlinson in 101 Hammond Building or emailed to: stomlinson@engr.psu.edu.

Students are putting together and making final touches on their machines for the Rube Goldberg Contest. Check out the  machines so far:

Teams representing engineering student groups will compete in the 2013 Penn State Regional Rube Goldberg Machine Contest at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 23 in Presidents Hall at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. Sponsored and judged by the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society, the contest is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 1:00 p.m.

Held annually, the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest challenges students to use innovative ideas, unconventional problem-solving skills and a little humor to design a machine that accomplishes an otherwise trivial task. This year’s national challenge is to design and build a machine that hammers a nail in 20 or more steps. You can learn more about the contest on our Contest Details page.

Teams entering the 2013 Penn State contest include the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) of both University Park and Harrisburg, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the Chinese Undergraduate Student Association, the Society of Engineering Science, and the Engineering Leadership Society.

ASME will be defending its four-year winning streak at the Penn State regional competition.

The top three teams will win trophies and cash prizes, and the winning team will be eligible to represent Penn State at the National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest on March 30 at the Center of Industry and Science in Columbus, OH.

The contest is named after Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, Reuben Lucius Goldberg, who drew cartoons that combined simple machine parts and household items to create contraptions that accomplished simple tasks in a laughable number of excess steps. Although he never built any of his machines, Goldberg’s creative thought process and innovation have become an inspiration to engineers and scientists all over the world.

More information about the event is available at: www.engr.psu.edu/RubeGoldberg.

Explore and engage in the wonderful world of engineering Thursday, February 21st from 10:00a.m. to 4:00p.m. in Alumni Hall at the HUB. In celebration of National Engineers Week, the Engineering Ambassadors and many other engineering student groups invite other students to experience the magic of engineering in this interactive, hands on event.

Professional societies from each major are going to hold demonstrations throughout the day that showcase their respective majors. Some examples of the demonstrations include: biological engineering is going to be flash-freezing ice cream, industrial engineering has a robot that takes cookie orders, mechanical engineering is going to let people build marble roller coasters, electrical engineering has little robots that work together, civil engineering will let people build skyscrapers out of spaghetti and marshmallows, computer science is programming a Kinect so that people can interact with it in different ways.

Stop by the HUB and have your mind expanded into the world of engineering. The event is open to all who want to have a little fun and learn more about what engineers do.

“I am not very technical but as a senior in high school I really started to weigh my options,” explains Ryan Patrick. “Mechanical engineering is a good major to have because it is broad and the degree gives a variety of options.”

With THON weekend just two days away, we are featuring our final overall who is also a student within the College of Engineering.

Ryan is a senior from Jamison, Pa. in Bucks County and the Overall Merchandise Chairperson for THON 2013. The purpose of his role is being responsible for spreading the awareness of THON and the Four Diamonds Fund through the sale of merchandise. Patrick is also responsible for protecting the name and brand of THON.

Ryan’s THON involvement began in 2011 when he was the THON Chair for Beta Theta Pi. In 2012, Ryan became a Merchandise Captain and went on to be overall in 2013.

When asked how he manages his course load and commitments to THON Ryan replied, “I just do it.” He says time management is crucial and that his school work always comes first. Ryan is constantly making to do lists, staying on top of what he needs to accomplish and using free time effectively.

Mechanical engineering has helped Ryan to look at things differently than others and tackle problems with a different and more analytical approach. He looks at some of his tasks within THON as problem-solving and never tries to “constrain himself to staying inside the box.” His participation in THON has made Ryan realize that of the Four Diamonds, honesty is the most important one for an engineer to have.

“Being aware of ethical concerns, along with being honest to yourself and co-workers is extremely important in all aspects of life,” explains Ryan.

One of his favorite THON memories was during THON 2012. Around 3:00 a.m. on Sunday, when the wear of the weekend could be felt on volunteers, he stopped and took a good look around the Bryce Jordan Center. “I really took in the scene, seeing how selfless everyone in the Bryce Jordan Center was being,” says Ryan.

Ryan is really looking forward to THON 2013 for a lot of reasons. As a captain for THON 2012, he saw a lot of different things he wanted to change. As an overall, he has been able to implement some of those ideas into projects.

Ryan’s biggest piece of advice to a current or future student is to get involved. He says it would’ve been easy to just be an engineering student but getting involved in other things has given him extremely valuable real world experience. “You learn a lot about yourself, develop social skills, time management and how to make it all balance,” says Ryan.

“Do things that stand way after you leave. Make an impact and leave a legacy.”