From Rube Goldberg to Oreos

March 14, 2008

Three creative Oreo stackers watch with anticipation as the tower grows

Budding engineers and Oreo cookie lovers had a heyday during February Thaw Weekend when two building contests took place in the Phelps Academy Center.

The more delicious of the two – an Oreo tower contest – pitted 13 teams of 35 hungry Exonians against each other. To their delight, they discovered tremendous engineering potential in cookies. "When we saw the other teams building single-stack towers, we decided that the best way to stack them would be in groups of three," explains Kyle, an upper who was on the winning team for Creative Highest Stack. "We would put a triangle on top of another triangle rotated 120 degrees so that we could have more stability. Using this method, we were able to stack our tower up 34 Oreos high." Ultimately, Kyle and teammate Sergio, a senior, were forced to stop building when they ran out of cookies. "I know I would like to be an engineer, so it was a fun little problem-solving activity for me," added Kyle, who got to eat the tower remains once the contest was judged.

For Sean, a senior, the Oreo tower contest proved to be a lesson in applied philosophy. After failing twice to beat the competitors, he and frustrated teammates Angelo, a senior, and Sam, a lower, attempted a new strategy. "Instead of carefully examining each step of the process, we decided to act spontaneously, thoughtlessly, acting from instinct rather than logic, and applying principles we had explored in Mr. Vorkink's Zen Buddhism class," he explains. "Unbound by conventional thinking and the illusion of ego, we were able to stack much higher." Sean has nothing but praise for Angelo, who "despite the purposeful distractions of our competitors, was able to let go of individual desires and become one with the Oreo stack. Instead of placing the Oreo on top, he placed the Oreo on himself by being the stack, and at the same time guiding himself towards this union." As a reward for this supreme application of lessons learned in Zen Buddhism class, the team was awarded the prize for Highest Stack.

For more serious-minded builders, the Rube Goldberg machine contest, hosted by MECexeter, a new engineering club, provided the chance to build with complex materials. Contest entrants had three weeks to build their designs, which needed to incorporate multiple "simple machines" (devices requiring the application of a single force to work, such as pulleys, levers, screws, wheels  and axle). The judges – an informal panel of one faculty member and several curious students – considered design complexity and effectiveness. Winners Hillary, a prep and the brainchild behind MECexeter, and Ben, an upper, are justly proud of their achievement. "We created a device that uses circuits, electromagnets, levers, pulleys and a Gaussian gun to launch a ball bearing over three meters," explains Ben. "The final demonstration was spectacular. Plus, we all learned quite a bit about basic engineering principles."

Hillary brought his engineering savvy to Exeter from his home state of Texas. "At home, I have a workshop where I build things," he explains. "I wanted to give that experience to other people. You can take physics all you want, but if you don't understand the real world variables, it's hard to design things successfully." The club has intentionally started out small. Hillary's ultimate goal is "to get as many people involved as possible." 

Ben loves the practical engineering exposure he gets from the club. "MECexeter is very hands-on, which makes it exciting and educational. Rather than being discussion-based, we are always doing something with our hands. Together, we are learning construction skills, diligence, responsibility and even physics! I have truly enjoyed the experience."

Brad Robinson, science instructor and adviser to MECexeter, admires the students' accomplishments. "Thanks to Hillary's organization, the club is doing great stuff. He chooses a project and the students really jump at the chance to build something fun in their spare time. Hillary sets up clear goals and a timeline, and students go with it. I have been incredibly impressed with their creativity and enthusiasm."  

MECexeter sponsored a medieval hand sling competition earlier this year (they succeeded in propelling a snowball almost 50 yards). They've just launched their latest campus engineering challenge: potato cannons.

Hillary sees his science and math courses as great preparation for his engineering future. "I really loved the last lab we did in science – it was called 'The Sneezing Pig,' based on how fast the bottle scooted back and forth. In math class, we've been doing trig which is very useful for engineering and calculating lengths." The Rube Goldberg contest has capped off an exciting first six months at Exeter for this prep. "I love Exeter," he says. "It's really great and I'm never bored."

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