The Staples High School Applied Science Club won first place in a state-wide machine design contest with this device.
Photo credit: Contributed

WESTPORT, Conn. – Students in the Applied Science Club at Westport’s Staples High School have the chance to compete in a national competition after winning first place in the Rube Goldberg competition last weekend in Bridgeport.

Inspired by Rube Goldberg, an engineer-turned-cartoonist, the contest challenges students to design a machine that uses the most complex process to complete a simple task. At this year’s contest, held at the Discovery Museum, students were asked to design a machine that would inflate and pop a balloon using as many energy transfer steps as possible.  

The six-member Staples team designed a carnival-themed device that used 20 different energy transfers consisting of various pulleys, ramps, golf balls, waterfalls, a compressed air pump, a Ferris wheel and a razor blade. 

The team members, Clay Andrews, Megumi Asada, Dylan Klein, Neloise Egipto, Ben Shey and Tiffany Yang, will compete in the national competition at Ferris State University in Michigan next month.