March 29, 2006
Students bring machines of inefficiency to national contest
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — University students from around the nation put their creative skills to the test as they come up with whimsical and inefficient ways to shred paper during the 19th annual National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest at Purdue University.About eight teams from other universities, including Purdue, are expected to participate. The competition, which is free and open to the public, takes place Saturday (4/1) in the Purdue Armory. Doors open at 10 a.m. Lunch is available to purchase at the event.
The competition pays homage to late cartoonist Rube Goldberg, who specialized in drawing whimsical machines with complex mechanisms to perform simple tasks. This year's challenge is to individually cut or shred five sheets of 20-pound, 8-by-11-inch paper.
A satellite uplink will be available at 4 p.m., Central Standard Time (Indiana east) the day of the event.
Satellite Coordinates
U/L TYPE: Analog
Band Type: Ku-Band
SBS6/05 (74'W)
U/L: 14123.000 MHz Vertical
D/L: 11823.000 MHz Horizontal
Allocated Bandwidth (MHz): 43.000
If there is difficulty with the satellite feed, contact Jesica Webb, (765) 494-2079, (765) 426-1071 (cell), jwebb@purdue.edu.
In addition to a satellite uplink of contest highlights, a news release with competition results and photos will be issued the day of the contest. An ISDN line is available for radio interviews, but journalists must arrange interviews prior to the contest. Video b-roll is available by request.
A link to the competition story will be available after the contest on Purdue's home page.
Journalists planning to cover the contest with questions regarding teams and the news release should contact Cynthia Sequin, (765) 494-4192, csequin@purdue.edu. The day of the contest, Sequin can be reached by cell phone at (317) 938-5209.
Writers: Cynthia Sequin, (765) 494-4192, csequin@purdue.edu, Jesica Webb, (765) 494-2079, jwebb@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
Related Web site:
Purdue Rube Goldberg page
Related news release:
Students shred paper in novel ways in national inefficiency contest
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