Media contact: Yvonne Taunton
Students from Birmingham-area schools will drop their eggs from the top of the Vulcan statue Friday, April 5, from 9:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. as part of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Engineering’s 30th annual American Society of Mechanical Engineers Egg Drop Contest. Elementary, middle and high school students are asked to design apparatuses that will protect a raw egg from breaking when dropped from the Vulcan’s more than 100-foot pedestal.
The goal of the contest is to inspire engineering thought and design in students. Entries will be judged on engineering thought, creativity, mass of the apparatus and the ease with which the egg is loaded into the apparatus. High school participants must also write a two-page-minimum paper supporting their design ideas with theory and calculations.
“Students will attempt to achieve what seems impossible — dropping raw eggs from the top of the Vulcan without breaking them,” said Zoë Penko, president of the UAB Society of Women Engineers and the UAB American Society of Mechanical Engineers. “We want to encourage engineering education and inspiration in our next generation of engineers.”
Physical demonstrations from different engineering departments and Vulcan history personnel will be available to participants at the event.