Could you win the Rube Goldberg contest? Check out this year’s piggy bank machine winners
A team from last year’s contest
Rube Goldberg’s Self-Operating Napkin
Next year, the challenge is to invent a machine to turn off a light
Rube Goldberg, a Pulitzer-Prize winning cartoonist, is inspiring the next generation of STEM / STEAMM enthusiasts almost 50 years after his death. Rube originally trained as an engineer but was an inventor and artist at heart. His “invention” cartoons, which were published in hundreds of US newspapers, featured crazy contraptions that accomplished a simple task in the most complicated – and funniest – way possible. Think Wallace and Gromit’s “Cracking Contraptions” and you’re on the right track!
“A Rube Goldberg Machine is an intentionally delightful waste of time and energy”
Jimmy Kimmel
Since 1988, the legacy of Rube Goldberg has been celebrated through an annual competition. This year, contestants, who hailed from all over the world, were asked to build machines that completed the same simple task, “Put Money in a Piggy Bank”.
“Our goal is to promote STEM and STEAM education through the unique lens of my grandfather. The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest teaches kids how to problem solve in the real world. No screens, no coding, just old-fashioned face-to-face, hands-on problem solving that requires teamwork, creativity and out of the box thinking.”
Jennifer George, Rube’s granddaughter and the Legacy Director of Rube Goldberg, Inc.
The competition was entered either live: teams transported their Rube Goldberg Machine to a host site and competed with other teams; or online: teams video recorded their machine in action and submitted their entry online.
The competition was fierce, and hilarious, as you may well imagine! Congratulations to all of this year’s winning teams, who are listed below.
APPRENTICE (ages 8-11):
Helping Hand Teamwork Award
Unqua Elementary, NY
Professor Butts Creative Spark Award
ECNUAS, Shanghai, China
Spirit of Hilarious Invention Award AND People’s Choice
Southwest Elementary School, IL
DIVISION I (ages 11-14):
1st Place – Academy of Our Lady, NJ
2nd Place – Sheridan Junior High School, WY
3rd Place – Great Salt Bay School, ME
People’s Choice – Pikeville Elementary, KY
DIVISION II (ages 14-18):
1st Place – Tamalpais High School, CA
2nd Place – Saguaro High School, AZ
3rd Place – Brevard High School, NC
People’s Choice – Atidim- Shaar Hanegev Sderot, Israel
You can see Rube talking about his “inventions”, watch videos of some amazing creations inspired by Rube, and meet his granddaughter Jennifer George in this short vimeo clip.
If you have enjoyed watching the crazy antics in these videos, why don’t you take part yourself next year? Next year, the challenge is to invent a machine to “Turn Off A light”. Let us know how you get on @FuturumCareers.
“All you need is a pile of junk and a great imagination to compete. From China, to Israel, to the USA, Rube Goldberg is one language.”
Jennifer George
A team from last year’s contest
Rube Goldberg’s Self-Operating Napkin
Next year, the challenge is to invent a machine to turn off a light
You can see Rube talking about his “inventions”, watch videos of some amazing creations inspired by Rube, and meet his granddaughter Jennifer George in this short vimeo clip.
If you have enjoyed watching the crazy antics in these videos, why don’t you take part yourself next year? Next year, the challenge is to invent a machine to “Turn Off A light”. Let us know how you get on @FuturumCareers.
“All you need is a pile of junk and a great imagination to compete. From China, to Israel, to the USA, Rube Goldberg is one language.”
Jennifer George
Read more about this:
Rube Goldberg website: homepage
Rube Goldberg website: contest page
Wikipedia: Rube Goldberg
