‘Twas the afternoon of the Oscars and all through the school, members of the Rube Goldberg Engineering Club showed off their boxes and tinkered with tools. The Commons were alive with scientific thought, and there was no end to the cheer students and crowds brought. With the bathroom, pirate ship and “Rubenheimer” themes, there were endless methods to put toothpaste on a toothbrush it seems. All boxes dazzled but only one could come out on top, and when it came to judging, the “Rubenheimer” team had a show to stop.
On Sunday, March 10, Fieldston hosted its 9th Engineering Extravaganza/ Rube Goldberg NYC Regional Competition. The Rube Goldberg Club, run out of the 700’s engineering room and headed by Science Department Chair Dr. Paul Church, is a collective of creative student engineers with one goal: to make a simple task as complicated as possible.
Rube Goldberg, a famed cartoonist and engineer, originated the concept. Goldberg strived to make the mundane just a bit more imaginative through conceiving wacky ways of going about daily objectives. His granddaughter, Fieldston alumna Jennifer George, survives his legacy as the Creative Officer at the Rube Goldberg Institute. This year, George and the Institute determined that Rube Goldberg teams nationwide would spend their days figuring out how to most intricately put toothpaste on a toothbrush in a contest sponsored by Crest and Oral B. Fieldston’s Rube Goldberg Club achieved just this.
Divided into three teams, the “freniors” (freshmen and seniors), juniors and sophomores took on the challenge during late nights after activities and early Saturday mornings. As the “freniors” assembled a nearly life-size bathroom, the juniors let their ideas set sail in an impressive pirate-themed box. The sophomores, inspired by the two defining movies of the summer, combined the fascinating worlds of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” and created a “Rubenheimer” box.
The throughline of all three teams is the genuine friendship fostered both during and outside of club hours. Talia Proshan (Form VI) explains that she “really love[s] bonding with teammates while working in the design lab.” Similarly, Liam Katzin (Form IV) calls Rube Goldberg “more than just an engineering opportunity- it is a community of equally interested and engaged students, clever and creative alike. It is a place to collaborate, where each student brings to the club something uniquely their own.” Katzin continued on, accentuating the importance of a group-based environment. “Together, we learn the core tenets of engineering and explore the realms of creativity and design, ultimately coming together to form something brilliant.” “The process takes months of hard work and refining, forcing members to fully engage with the project.”
“[Rube is] more than just an engineering opportunity- it is a community of equally interested and engaged students, clever and creative alike. It is a place to collaborate, where each student brings to the club something uniquely their own.”
In many ways, the form of a Rube Goldberg machine is reflected in the club’s dynamic. Each individual plays a distinct role in the formation of their team’s box. Every club member approaches the engineering dilemmas that arise with a different perspective and mode of problem-solving. After all, the connectivity of each box is only as strong as the connectivity of the team that created it. As club advisor Paul Church reasons, “In order for the machine to work, every single part has to work. You’re relying on every step to function perfectly, so everyone in the group is reliant on everyone else in the group. It’s that stupid thing: the sum of the parts is so much greater than the individual.”
And yet, each individual must be great to ensure all parts of the machine run smoothly when tested against the judges’ critical eyes.
Despite being a competition, regionals were first and foremost a celebration of all the work “rubies” put in over the past few months. Faculty and family excitedly gathered to catch a glimpse at the three extraordinary machines. Still, the adventure is not over for the Rube Goldberg Club. From the engineering room to an airport gate, the sophomore and junior teams will make their way to Indiana for the Rube Goldberg Nationals in early April.
When asked about any potential plans for Indiana, Dr. Church responded with a direct, “party.” And party they will.
