Students challenged to can simplicity, build complex recycling machines

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 6, 2003) - The shortest distance between two points may be a straight line, but for students participating in Argonne National Laboratory's eighth annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, the longer it takes to get from point A to point B the better.

Twelve teams from Chicago-area high schools will build machines that must take at least 20 steps to select and crush an empty 12-oz. aluminum soft drink can and move it into a recycling bin. The teams will put their machines to the test in Argonne's Rube Goldberg Machine Contest Friday, March 7, at Chicago Children's Museum located at Navy Pier. The contest will begin at 10:30 a.m. with the judges reviewing the machines. The first machine will run about 11 a.m.

This year's high school teams are:

• William Fremd H.S., Palatine
• Glenbrook South H.S., Glenview
• Hoffman Estates H.S., Hoffman Estates
• Maine Township South H.S., Park Ridge
• Minooka Community H.S., Minooka
• Morgan Park Academy, Chicago
• Morton West H.S., Berwyn
• Newark Community H.S., Newark
• Ridgewood H.S., Norridge
• St. Ignatius College Prep H.S., Chicago
• Trinity H.S., River Forest
• Wilmington H.S., Wilmington

Rube Goldberg machine contests are inspired by Reuben Lucius Goldberg, whose cartoons combined simple household items into complex devices to perform trivial tasks. The machines combine the principles of physics and engineering, using common objects such as marbles, mousetraps, stuffed animals, electric mixers, vacuum cleaners, rubber tubes, bicycle parts and anything else that happens to be on hand.

The winning team will receive a traveling trophy to display until the 2004 contest and a tour of Argonne, which will include the Advanced Photon Source, and lunch with Argonne scientists. In addition, each team member and the team's faculty advisor will receive an Argonne Rube Goldberg machine wrist watch and an Argonne Rube Goldberg Machine Contest T-shirt.

The first-place team also will have the opportunity to demonstrate their winning machine at Argonne on the day of their tour and also may have the opportunity to exhibit their machine at Purdue University's national collegiate Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, which is held on a Saturday during spring break.

Second-place team members and their faculty advisor will receive Argonne Rube Goldberg machine wrist watches and Argonne Rube Goldberg Machine Contest T-shirts.

Third-place team members and their faculty advisor will receive Argonne Rube Goldberg Machine Contest T-shirts.

The top three teams will have the opportunity to compete in the fifth annual Illinois State Championship Rube Goldberg Machine Contest to be held in the spring at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. They will compete against the top three teams from the high school Rube Goldberg Machine Contest held Friday, March 14, at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign's Engineering Open House.

Information about the Argonne Rube Goldberg Machine Contest for High Schools is available on the World Wide Web at www.anl.gov/rube/rubeteams.html.

Argonne's Division of Educational Programs and Office of Public Affairs sponsor the March event in collaboration with Chicago Children's Museum, and the National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, held annually at Purdue University. The event is licensed by Rube Goldberg, Inc.

"Rube Goldberg" is a registered trademark of Rube Goldberg, Inc., which can be reached by fax at (212) 371-3761, by e-mail at 74513.1464@compuserv.com, or on the World Wide Web at www.rube-goldberg.com.

Chicago Children's Museum's mission is to create a community where play and learning connect. For more information about Chicago Children's Museum, call (312) 527-1000 or visit www.chichildrensmuseum.org.

The nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory conducts basic and applied scientific research across a wide spectrum of disciplines, ranging from high-energy physics to climatology and biotechnology. Since 1990, Argonne has worked with more than 600 companies and numerous federal agencies and other organizations to help advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for the future. Argonne is operated by the University of Chicago as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's national laboratory system.

For more information, please contact Steve McGregor (630/252-5580 or media@anl.gov) at Argonne.