STEM Forward Hosts 2020 WI High School Regional Rube Goldberg Machine Contest

Milwaukee, Wisconsin – March 5, 2020––STEM Forward is excited to host the 2020 WI High School Regional Rube Goldberg Machine Contest on March 6, 2019, at the Discovery World, Milwaukee’s nonprofit science and technology center.

A Rube Goldberg Machine is a crazy contraption that accomplishes a simple task in the most complicated and comical way possible! The contest started in 1988 and is based on the “invention” cartoons of the famous Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, Rube Goldberg. Each year, a new challenge is determined and high school students’ scrounge for everyday items to put together their machines to tell a story, make you laugh, and complete the task! This year’s high school challenge is to “turn off a light” in 20 or more steps. The completed machine must fit in an overall space of 10x10x8 square area and run for no more than three minutes.

Approximately 150 high school students and instructors on ten teams from high schools throughout Wisconsin will compete and display their machines as part of the Wisconsin High School Regional Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. The contest is an event where students compete with their machines that they have imagined, designed, and created in a competitive forum. The competition encourages students’ to apply a variety of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) skills, problem-solving, advanced manufacturing concepts, and the engineering design process. Last year, WI Regional winners were 1st Place: Pius XI High School

2nd Place: New Berlin Eisenhower and 3rd Place: St. Catherine’s High School. The First Place team of the 2020 WI High School Regional will advance to the National Competition held at the Lawrenceburg Event Center in Indiana on April 4, 2019.

Schools participating in the 2020 event include:

• Bay View High School – Milwaukee
• Benton High School
• Chatfield High School – Minnesota
• Kiel High School
• Kimberly High Scho
• Loyal High School
• Pius XI Catholic High School – Milwaukee
• Catherine’s High School – Racine
• Waunakee High School
• Waupaca High School

Rounds 1 and 2 of judging, and the best time to view the models, will be from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with a third round of judging from 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.  The awards ceremony will be from 2:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.; specialty awards will also be announced. The public is invited to attend this event with the price of admission into Discovery World.

If you would like more information about this topic, please call Maureen Haeger at 414-221-7722 or mhaeger@stemforward.org. Please feel free to reference our Website or Facebook page.

About STEM Forward

STEM Forward is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and metro Milwaukee’s leading STEM education and outreach provider. STEM Forward’s programs, events, and activities inspire local youth to pursue STEM careers and provide a pipeline of talent to businesses in southeastern Wisconsin.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.