Judging "Rube Goldberg Machines"

June 2011

Laura Ricci (left) and Monica Kolb both took part in the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest for the first time this year. They got involved in response to a call from Bryn Dews, a MITRE lead human factors engineer, for volunteers from MITRE's Networking for Professional Women's group.

How hard is it to make a pot of coffee, or to get the cotton out of an aspirin bottle? In the fertile imagination of cartoonist Rube Goldberg such everyday tasks could involve a complex combination of machinery and steps numbering in the double digits.

In a way, Goldberg's contraptions were the ultimate forms of systems engineering, which is what makes the annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest such a learning opportunity for young engineers. It also allowed MITRE's Monica Kolb and Laura Ricci to help judge how well the next generation can tackle complex tasks.

Kolb and Ricci recently served as judges at the seventh annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest at the Fay School in Southborough, Mass. A total of 23 teams of students in grades 7-9 came from across New York and New England to participate in the event. The contest offers students interested in engineering careers an opportunity to apply and synthesize their thoughts in a complex and interesting problem-solving environment.

The Fay School organizes and directs an annual Rube Goldberg event in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and with the collaboration of GE and EMC. Kolb and Ricci joined other volunteers from a diverse set of organizations, including Draper Labs, EMC, Alcatel-Lucent, and Genzyme.

This year's contest challenge (the goal for constructed machines) was to draw a 2-6" line on a piece of paper, using a specific set of materials and construction tools. The solutions needed to use at least five steps and contain at least one mouse or rat trap. Although teams were allowed to design solutions in the few months preceding the event, they were required to fully construct their solutions at the Fay School, within three hours, on the day of the competition. Kolb, Ricci, and the other judges observed the teams' construction and testing activities, while answering contest rules and helping ensure safe use of saws, drills, and other tools. Later in the day, the teams had 15 minutes to explain their solutions and demonstrate successful execution. The judges rated the machine solutions (for successful completion, complexity, and creativity) and the teams themselves (for teamwork and sportsmanship).

"Some of the more elaborate machines incorporated over 20 steps, leading to some very high scores," says Ricci. "The students were well-prepared for the competition and demonstrated strong teamwork."

"Of all the middle-and high-school engineering contests I've been involved with, this was by far the most creative—the teams were rewarded for every convoluted step they could add," says Kolb. "The creativity/presentation winners kicked off two process chains that converged at the end to meet the goal. Other teams used zip lines, counterweights, and marble mazes. It was amazing to see these diverse teams get so involved in the engineering challenge."

—by Russell Woolard

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