Rube Goldberg Contest at MSI- This weekend!

Now in its 30th year, the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest challenges students of all ages to devise and build their own convoluted contraptions to solve a simple “problem.” This year’s competition challenge: Pour a Bowl of Cereal.

If you don't know who Rube Goldberg is, don't worry, you actually do.  He was a cartoonist in the early 1900s who was famous for drawing complicated machines to do simple tasks.  It's estimated that he drew over 50,000 cartoons during his lifetime.  Some people think that the game Mousetrap is based on his work.

His name and his zany machines live on in the hearts and minds of people.  Youtube is filled with attempts at making crazy machines.

A typical Rube Goldberg Cartoon

Here's a video about who Rube Goldberg was:

This year the finals of the official Rube Goldberg Machine Contest are being held at the Museum of Science and Industry.  It's this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, April 21 and 22.  Museum guests are welcome to watch the competitors swing, burn, catapult, scurry, roll and hammer their way to the top. Cereal will be spilled—let the flakes fall where they may.


Both days of the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest Finals will also feature these special guests:

At 2 pm (West Pavilion auditorium) Jennifer George will present a personal look at her grandfather, Rube Goldberg, from his early San Francisco years to his rise to the top of his field in cartooning in New York City. She will also discuss his legacy for future generations, and will take your questions.

Also at 2 pm in the West Pavilion, Ed Steckley, a Reuben Award-winning illustrator in New York City, will talk about (and sign) the new book he illustrated  Rube Goldberg’s Simple Normal Humdrum School Day.

At 3 pm on both days in the West Pavilion Auditorium,  Joseph Herscher, Youtube useless machine builder with millions of Youtube hits, will detail his creative process and explore the magic behind Rube Goldberg machines. Why are people mesmerized watching familiar objects used in unfamiliar and playful ways?

The contest and lectures by special guests are free with Museum Entry. 
The contest opens to the public at noon on both days.

More info from the museum: MSI Rube Goldberg contest
More info about the contest itself: https://www.rubegoldberg.com/contests/

Some books from Amazon