St. Olaf students win Rube Goldberg competition
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
How many St. Olaf College students does it take to change a light bulb? Apparently the answer is 11 -- and it takes them 239 steps and nearly two full minutes to get the job done.
And that's just right when you're competing in the national Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, which took place over the weekend at Purdue University. Teams from around the country designed absurdly-complex contraptions to accomplish the simple task of replacing an incandescent light bulb with a more energy-efficient alternative.
St. Olaf was the only liberal arts college at the contest and the only school without an engineering department. So that made their 1st place finish all the more stunning.
Senior Dan Endean is a captain member of the winning team, he joined Tom Crann from Northfield, along with the project's advisor, physics professor Jason Engbrecht.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
Dear reader,
Political debates with family or friends can get heated. But what if there was a way to handle them better?
You can learn how to have civil political conversations with our new e-book!
Download our free e-book, Talking Sense: Have Hard Political Conversations, Better, and learn how to talk without the tension.
