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Inaugural E-Games Helps Jacobs Students Kick Off Engineering Week
Ioana Patringenaru | February 26, 2007
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Students held on to a helium balloon, which was used during a tomato "Death Drop" competition. |
Click here to view the slide show. |
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A gong went off and the crowd shouted “drop it, drop it!” Then a contraption made of cotton balls, paper plates and foam blocks tumbled down from the skies—well, from a balloon, actually—and landed with a loud thud onto Warren Mall.
A team of students rushed to the landing site to
see if a tomato, shielded at the heart of the contraption,
had survived the fall. Welcome to the tomato “Death
Drop,” one of the competitions headlining UCSD’s
first E-Games, sponsored by the Triton Engineering
Student Council. The event’s goal is to build
campus culture and start a tradition, said council
president Jeffrey Mounzer.
“We’re working hard to make sure students are enjoying their time at the Jacobs School of Engineering,” Mounzer said. “We want to make sure they’re not just taking classes, but also taking part in campus life.”
The games, which took place from 11:30 a.m. to 3
p.m. Tuesday on Warren Mall kicked off National Engineers
Week at UCSD, which also included a research conference,
career panels and a semi-formal dance.
In addition to the death drop, students competed by racing with miniature boats powered by water guns. They also built toy structures that had to withstand tremors on a mini shake table simulating earthquakes. They were judged not only on results, but also on style. Winners took home a Golden Calculator trophy.
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| Teams vied for the Golden Calculator. |
Click here to view the video.
(RealPlayer software required) |
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Tuesday, the calculator went to a Top Gun-themed team, which represented the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics student organization at UCSD. Team members donned military-green jumpsuits and white head bands. “It’s really fun,” said sophomore Tim Havard, a mechanical engineering major. He was injecting spray foam into the team’s tomato-protecting device, which also featured cotton balls and kebob sticks. “It’s better than studying all day,” chimed in junior Samina Bhatia, an aerospace engineering major.
A few yards away, the Society of Women Engineers team wore green tank tops, which some members accessorized with green beads and even a green wig. The team’s mascot, a Pomeranian named Honey, sported a green bandana. Green is the society’s color, explained junior Virginia Tam. Team members ensconced their tomato in a brick stuffed with cotton balls and made up of foam blocks and duct tape. “It’s a lot of fun,” Tam said of the competition. “It’s a way to get the girls out.”
Finally, around 1:40 p.m. the tomato drop started in earnest. Four students brought a tethered balloon slowly to the ground. Each team hooked their contraption onto the balloon, which was then allowed to float back up in the sky. Then one team member hit a gong and the contraption was released, gliding some 125 feet on a string before hitting the ground. Most contraptions looked a little bit like Sputnik—just stranger. One was even decorated with lettuce leaves.
After the crash, each team brought their devices to a table to check on their tomatoes. It took one team the better part of five minutes to release their tomato from its foam and duct tape cocoon. It turned out to be intact. In fact, six out of nine tomatoes survived unscathed. Two cracked. One was skewered.
“Duct tape works great,” concluded third-year student Jessica Tse, a mechanical engineering major.
Next year’s contestants might have a tougher time. They will have to cut back on foam to protect their tomatoes and will have to rely on other fruits and vegetables instead, Mounzer predicted. Oh, and the contraptions will free fall, this time.
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| UCSD's first E-Games took place Feb. 20. |
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