Contact: Bob Ratliff
Three Mississippi State University students will be in Atlanta Saturday [Sept. 12] to take part in an "eggs-clusive and egg-citing" contest.
Held at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Energy Challenge '98 involves the design and construction of packages that can protect a raw egg dropped onto a solid surface from up to 20 feet.
Only eight universities were invited to send teams. The winner receives a $15,000 award.
Mississippi State's representatives include Robert Montgomery of Pascagoula, Brian Parker of Ripley, Tenn., and Clint Williams of Huntsville, Ala., all senior chemical engineering majors.
As with the seven other schools, MSU was chosen to participate on the basis of a required written proposal. After being selected, each team received a $2,000 project startup grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, a sponsor of the event.
Other Energy Challenge '98 supporters include the Atlanta-based Institute of Paper Science and Technology and Hercules Inc. of Wilmington, Del., along with the American pulp and paper industry.
Chemical engineering professor Clifford George picked the three students to represent some 40 chemical and mechanical engineering majors who worked together in designing and building the packaging.
"The contest supports the Department of Energy's initiative to help the pulp and paper industry move toward more energy-efficient manufacturing processes," George said. "Through the contest, students learn design efficiency, the structural mechanics of packaging products, waste minimization, and the industrial processes of the pulp and paper industry."
Each team's package will contain 64 cubic inches of water and a raw egg. Both package and egg inside must remain intact and not leak after a series of drops from heights of five-to-20 feet.
George said the packages must be made entirely of chemical wood pulp, secondary wood cellulose and paper chemicals. In addition to the post-drop condition of the packages and the original written proposals, final scores will be based on other required reports.
Joining MSU in Energy Challenge '98 are Clarkson University, Georgia Tech, Miami University of Ohio, North Carolina State University, University of Colorado at Denver, University of Maine, and Western Michigan University.