National Engineers' Week Student Competitions

UAA Campus, Anchorage, AK

Saturday February 26, 2000; 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Rules for 2000 Student Competitions

Last edited 10/10/02

Contents:

The Great Rubber Band Vehicle Distance Competition (Institute for Transportation Engineers)

The Floatable Moatable Marble Competition (Safety Engineers)

The Egg Drop Competition (American Welding Society)

The Structural Engineering Competition: Tower Strength (Engineering Explorer Post)

UAA Location Map

You will also want to see the listing of other Engineer's week opportunities are available for students in the Anchorage Area.

Go to the UAA School of Engineering Home Page

  since 11/16/99

The intent of National Engineer’s Week is to heighten public awareness of the engineering professions and to highlight the individual disciplines and fields represented. Just as importantly, it is used to encourage school age children to participate in the many educational programs and opportunities available to prepare for engineering. The National Engineer's Week Competitions are supported by the UAA School of Engineering and engineers from south central Alaska.

Again this year, Engineers’ Week programs include several competitions, planned to encourage participation in Science and Engineering and challenge students at all levels. The contests will be held on the UAA Campus, Anchorage, AK.

All four competitions will be held simultaneously in a "fair" format as we have the past few years. Students will be able to participate in all the events in any order they wish. It is recommended that the students get there early and signup for a time slot in the Floatable Moatable competition as this competition fills up quickly. All competitions will be concluded by 2:30 pm and the awards ceremony will be held at 3:00 pm in the UAA Campus Center Cafeteria. Students who cannot stay for the awards ceremony will have any awards sent to their schools.

Recognition (participation ribbons, etc.) will be offered to all that enter.

TROPHIES: Trophies will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in the Rubber Band Powered Vehicle, Floatable Moatable, and Egg Drop competitions for the following categories:

Trophies will be awarded to the top five finishers in the structural engineering competition. Additional awards (such as programable calculators) are normally awarded to top finishers as well.

Teachers are encouraged to help the students form teams and to coach them in preparation for the competitions. Classroom assistance is available to help students prepare for the various competitions. For further information, contact Bart Quimby at 786-1046, Student Activities Competition Committee Chairman. Bart can also be reached via e-mail at AFTBQ@UAA.ALASKA.EDU.

Great Rubber Band Vehicle Distance Competition:

Location: Enclosed walkway between the UAA Campus Center and Engineering Building.

a. Using one official rubber band for power, construct a vehicle of any size, weight or design. Winning entry will travel the furthest distance in contest. No limits for time or speed. Entries can be made by individuals or by teams. Begin constructing and perfecting you entry, now and bring it to complete on race day.

b. Official rubber bands are size 32 and can be obtained from most office supply stores. Some rubber bands will be distributed to teachers in January.

c. All components of your vehicle system must be integral; everything must travel together attached. Sling-shot type vehicles will be disqualified.

d. Your vehicle must remain on the ground or within 1 inch of the surface at all times during its release and travel.

e. No Parental Participation Please!! All vehicles MUST be 100% STUDENT CONSTRUCTED and DESIGNED. Teacher involvement and suggestions are encouraged and appreciated.

f. Grades 1-6: ANY NUMBER of WHEELS is ACCEPTABLE

Grades 7-12: ONE ROLLING SURFACE RULE. Only one wheel or belt, round or otherwise, is allowed to contact ground surface. WHEELLESS ENTRIES ARE ENCOURAGED

g. The Official Contest Runway will be 8 feet wide by 100 feet long on a nominally level concrete floor.

h. On Contest day, entrants will be given 90 seconds to set-up and prepare their vehicle for operation. ONLY the Team Captain is permitted to operate the vehicle. In the event a vehicle breaks upon launch or during its run, the entrant will be allowed FIVE minutes to make repairs and attempt a repeat run. Reruns will be made at the end of the scheduled runs. No more than 2 repair reruns will be permitted. Vehicles must stay within the Runway borders during all travel. In the event a vehicle leaves the Runway, the Official travel distance will be reported as the point where leaving the Runway.

j. Valid entries traveling the greatest distance will be declared winners.

k. The potential Winning Entries will be inspected (internally, if necessary) by Contest Judges immediately following their runs to insure compliance with the Official Rules.

l. All Rulings by the Judges on Contest Day will be final.

NEW!!! - Click here to see a design for a simple vehicle.....

Floatable Moatable Marble Competition:

Location: UAA Campus Center

Your Team of 4 or 5 members will be issued a kit at least 15 minutes prior to entry time and allowed to construct a winning structure - this is: the one that holds the most marbles before sinking. Official float construction kits (containing things like baggies, tape, paper clips, card stock, etc.) will be issued the day of the competition.   Teachers, schools, or parents are heartily encouraged to organize teams prior to the competition day.

a. Your team's goal will be to get as many marbles as possible into/onto your free-floating structure in a five minute period, without sinking. Your team will have exactly one hour to invent and make a floatation structure and a marble loading device using only the official contest materials kit provided. You are not required to use ALL of the materials provided. Every idea is a good idea.

b. Your floatation structure must be free-floating. This means your floatation structure must be made so it moves freely around the tank, and not affixed inside or outside the tank in any way. You may try out your design at any time at one of the practice tanks provided. 

c. After exactly one hour, STOP work; and your team will be given five minutes to place your floatation structure in the storage waiting area until your contest time comes. No more work on your floatation structure will be permitted.

d. When your team is called for the contest, you will have FIVE minutes to get your flotation structure from storage, set it up, and organize your team. Then, when the contest begins, you will have FIVE minutes get as many marbles as possible into your floatation structure. No leaning over the table will be permitted.

Remember, if your Flotation Structure sinks, your Team is out of the competition!

f. After FIVE minutes, the competition time is over. Your floatation structure must still be floating to remain in the competition.  If your floatation structure sinks, or has sunk, your team will be out of the competition.  The number of marbles in the floatation structure will be counted. Any marbles which have fallen onto the table, the floor, or the tank will be subtracted from your team's total.

Teachers, you are encouraged to get your teams together and practice group activities prior to the official contest. Structure your activity similar to the actual contest by gathering a kit (paper, baggies, tape, scissors, etc.) of approximately 10 to 15 items and constructing a floating device in a given time period. Then give the team 5 minutes to fill it up. Although it has not been specifically mentioned in the past, your design must also include a device for getting the marbles into the floating structure because leaning over the table is not permitted.

Egg Drop Competition

Location: UAA Engineering Building Atrium.

Objective: To construct a device that allows an egg to be dropped, without breaking, from a designated height on to a target. The uncracked egg that is closest to the center of the target will win.

Procedure: Register with the competition registration desk in the attrium of the engineering building when your team is ready to begin. Your Team of up to three members will be issued a kit (containing an egg and such things as baggies, tape, paper clips, card stock, etc.), some basic tools (such as sissors) and be given 20 minutes to construct your device from the time you are given the kit until you return to the time keeper. Teams in the 1st to 3rd grade and 4th to 6th grade categories will be given 40 minutes to construct their structures. Only materials in the kits issued to each team may be used for the competition.  No team can borrow or utilize unused material from other teams.   Each egg MUST be enclosed in a sealed plastic baggie (included in the kit). Teams must only utilize those members listed on the registration slip.  Teams taking longer than their alotted time will be penalized by having their final recorded distance increased 1 inch for each minute they are over the time limit.

At the end of the construction time, the team is to take their device to the designated time keeper for log-in then to the drop zones and register with the the competition official who will schedule the time of the drop. The team will then be allowed to test their device. The egg must be suspended above the drop platform floor level when it is released. Teams in the 1st to 3rd grade and 4th to 6th grade categories will drop their eggs from the 2nd floor catwalk and the older teams will drop theirs from the third floor catwalk.

When the egg comes to rest, the official will measure the distance from the center of the target to the center of the egg container if it appears that the egg survived the fall. If, on close inspection, the official determines that the egg is at all cracked the distance will not be recorded. All decisions by the competition judges on the competition day will be final.

Structural Engineering Competition: Tower Strength 

Location: UAA Engineering Building Atrium & Materials Lab

1. Height: The assembly must be 50 cm (+ 1.0 cm) tall.

2. Width: The tower assembly must be able to pass through a cylinder with an interior diameter of 15 cm. The base must be of sufficient width so that the structure is free standing when set on a table top. A 2.54 cm diameter dowel must be able to pass through the structure along the longitudinal axis.

3. Shape: Any shape can be submitted, as long as it meets the height and width specifications.

4. The tower must not contain a "soft story" designed to collapse before the main structure is engaged.  The peak load on the structure will be taken as the maximum load supported by the structure within the stroke capabilities (assume a maximum stroke of 10cm) of the testing machine without changing the testing machine's setup. 

5. Mass: The assembly should be at or below 100 grams. Towers more than 100 grams will be penalized by considering the tower to have a mass of 100 grams + (actual mass - 100 grams)^1.5.

6. Materials: Wood is to be any commercially available wood.  <2/9/00:  This means "raw" wood.  No wood products like paper, cardboard, particle board, etc...>

7. Glue is to be any commercially available glue. Hardened glue by itself may not be used as a structural member.

8. Loading: The tower will be tested at the UAA School of Engineering in a hydraulic press equipped with compression heads that are relatively smooth and which are 6 inches in diameter.  As stated above, the peak load on the structure will be taken as the maximum load supported by the structure within the stroke capabilities (assume a maximum stroke of 10cm) of the testing machine without changing the testing machine's setup.  Testing may also stop when a tower, in the opinion of the judges, has obviously reached its peak load. 

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