Theta Tau Presents the annual Rube Goldberg Machine Competition!

Picnic Day - April 21, 2012
Ghausi Hall

Prizes:
1st Place: $400
2nd Place: $200
3rd Place: $100
Task: Pop a Balloon!
Challenge: Build a machine that has 15 steps and runs for one (1) minute and thirty (30) seconds
Theme: Life is a Circus

What is Rube Goldberg?
"A Rube Goldberg machine is a deliberately overengineered apparatus that performs a very simple task in a very complex fashion, usually using a chain reaction" (Wikipedia).
A few examples of Rube Goldberg Machines include the family board game Mouse Trap, the 2010 music video "This too shall pass" by OK Go and the music video "Honest Mistake" by the Bravery. Other Rube Goldberg Machines have been featured in films such as Back to the Future, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Edward Scissorhands, Robots, Ernest Goes to Jail and Goonies. This year, teams will build a machine that is no greater than 6ftx6ftx6ft with fifteen (15) steps that will work together to POP A BALLOON in one (1) minute and thirty (30) seconds." This year's Rube Goldberg theme is "Life is a Circus.

About the Competition
Theta Tau is hosting the annual Rube Goldberg Machine Competition taking place on Picnic Day. The competition highlights the inspiring work of the late engineer and cartoonist Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg. The machine competition promotes creativity and innovation in a family fun environment that attracts hundreds of families and students. Theta Tau hosts this competition every year as an endeavor to inspire young students and children to consider engineering as a potential career path. According to a recent study by Intel, 63% of students have never considered a career in engineering and 44% say they would consider engineering as a career if they knew more about it. Through this annual competition, families and students become familiarized with the potential that engineering has to offer. Working on a Rube Machine is provides you a great opportunity to get your hands dirty with some real engineering and design.

Why Participate?
If you are in the engineering major of if you're interested in engineering, designing a Rube Goldberg Machine will give you valueable technical and teamwork experience you would similarly recieve from a senior design project, and it is looked well upon by industry. Yet we are not making the competition exclusive to engineers, anyone can team up with anyone, and bring a variety of skills and talents to the project.

Registering for the Competition
To be an eligible contestant, you must have a team of at least 2 members. Please read over and fill out the registration form, and email a soft copy to rubegoldberg@davisthetatau.org. Alternatively, register your team instantly by clicking here.

Sponsorship
We are always looking for corporate sponsors, willing to help fund or work with any of the teams that enter the competition at UC Davis. If you are an employer seeking such an opportunity, please contact rubegoldberg@davisthetatau.org, and one of our officers will respond to you shortly.

If you have any questions or any technical difficulties, please contact rubegoldberg@davisthetatau.org