MC Engineering class brings whole new meaning to “get all your eggs in one basket”

By Lesley Isaacs

An engineering class at Midland College (MC) has embarked on an interesting and exciting new experiment.

The Engineering 1201 class had their trial run for their “egg project” on April 5. There were five groups in the class and each group had to get 6 eggs from the ground over the ledge and into a boat at the edge of the fountain at Beal Plaza on the MC campus.

The boat waiting for the eggs is attached to the side just inside the fountain, but the trick is that they have to get all six eggs in the basket without breaking any of them! The groups were given a craft stick, balsa (wood), rubber bands, Styrofoam sheet, pins, elbow straws, string, plastic tubing and a $5 allowance at Hobby Lobby for the project. However, they were given these parts before they knew what the project was.

In the competition, each group will have to make six lifts to get six eggs into the boat. Each try will be awarded or deducted points depending on success or failure to get the egg in the basket without breaking any of the eggs. As each egg goes in the boat, it gets harder not to break any of them. For each try, one egg will be loaded on to the rig, on the top of a candlestick! This requires balance and delicacy on the group’s part to keep everything steady and balanced so they don’t lose the egg before the rig gets into motion!

The teams were given the trial runs so they could see if they needed to make any changes to the design before the final competition. The trial runs allowed the teams to get a glimpse at the other groups’ designs and the competition that awaits them. During the practice, only one team got all three eggs into the basket without breaking any of them! These groups have a lot of work to do before they can compete in the final competition. The winning group will receive a secret prize that will be announced after the event.

The competition will be held on April 19 at 1 p.m. at the fountain in Beal Plaza. Come check it out!!