Competitions for Engineers Day 2021 include seven competitions hosted by organizations from around the college. This year’s competitions include the Balsa Wood Bridge Competition, Cup Stacking with a Twist, the Egg Drop Competition, HackUTK Engineer’s Day CTF, the Marshmallow Design Challenge, the Quiz Bowl, the Radiation Shielding Competition, and Rocky Top Stand. View a full list of rules and regulations for the competitions.
Balsa Bridge Design Competition
Hosted by: American Society of Civil Engineers
Schools will compete to design and construct the lightest bridge capable of supporting a load over a 350mm opening while allowing for a model car to pass the entire length. This year each school may bring two bridges!
Cup Stacking with a Twist
Hosted by: Alpha Omega Epsilon
Teams of four to six will be given six cups, a rubber band, and piece of string per competitor and working together will be tasked to construct a pyramid without the use of their hands. The team that completes the pyramid first is the winner.
Egg Drop Competition
Hosted by: Materials Research Society
The Egg Drop Competition has quickly become one of the most popular events at Engineers Day. Sponsored by the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Materials Advantage student chapter, this competition encourages students to design a device that will protect a “free range” grade A egg from breaking when dropped with the focus being on the materials used to protect the egg.
HackUTK Engineer’s Day CTF
Hosted by: HackUTK
What is a CTF? CTF, or Capture The Flag, is a type of cybersecurity competition that challenges people to solve a variety of problems from cracking a cryptography scheme to reverse engineering a vulnerable program. This particular competition is designed with beginners in mind, so (most) challenges will be entirely feasible, even with no experience!
The Marshmallow Design Challenge
Hosted by: Society of Women Engineers
The Marshmallow challenge has become a popular exercise in which small groups are asked to build the “tallest free-standing structure” out of the materials listed. You’ll have twenty minutes to complete this task including assembling the large marshmallow on top. It’s a fun and interactive exercise that allows teams to experience simple lessons in collaboration, innovation, design, and creativity.
Quiz Bowl
Hosted by: Tau Beta Pi
The Quiz Bowl gives visiting students a chance to show how much they know about science and math topics by working in teams of four to complete a thirty-minute written examination consisting of sixty to seventy multiple choice questions. The eight teams with the best scores advance to the semifinal round, and the contest concludes with the four top teams going head-to-head for the coveted Quiz Bowl Championship.
Radiation Shielding Competition
Hosted by: American Nuclear Society and Women in Nuclear
Students must make a shield no larger than the dimensions stated and no bigger than 15 grams that will be the best at shielding gamma rays. They will be mailed in to the college to be tested using a Cobalt-60 source and an NaI detector to determine the count rate from various distances from the shield.
Rocky Top Stand Competition
Hosted by: Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
The objective is for students to design a structure out of a foam board. The structure needs to be at least 6 inches off the ground and it has to be big enough for them to stand on it with both feet.