Purdue team’s magically delicious entry wins Rube Goldberg

CHICAGO – How many hours does it take to pour a proper, competition-winning bowl of Lucky Charms?

Try 3,300 hours, says the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers, a crew that took first place Sunday in the 2018 Rube Goldberg Machine Contest college division at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, according to a release Monday from the university.

The competition, which originated at Purdue in the 1950s, features teams trying to make a simple task as complicated as possible in the vein of cartoonist Rube Goldberg. The national competition that evolved from the test of engineering feats between Purdue teams started in the 1980s.

The winning entry included dozens of steps on a medieval-themed set that revolved three times. You need to see it to fully understand:

On Sunday, the Purdue chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers also received third place in the college division, with a spy-themed machine.

Members of Purdue’s Association of Mechanical and Electrical Technologists won a special award from the event’s sponsor, General Mills, for the most innovative final step of pouring the bowl of cereal. Association of Mechanical and Electrical Technologists students created a primitive hydraulic arm out of wood and syringes, which lifted and turned a Cheerios box.

Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert.

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