Grant Proposal

                        Introduction:

            The Rube Goldberg competition is an annual, national competition in which high school teams compete to build a machine that solves a simple task in as many steps as possible.  At the Engineering Open House at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the regional qualifiers for this national competition are held each year.

            The University Laboratory High School Rube Goldberg team has existed for 6 years, and has entered the competition each of those years.  Whereas some teams build incredible machines and run them only two or three times for the competition judges, the Uni High team focuses on building a machine that is not only awesome, but is also able to run many, many times through the course of the day.  The event is open to the public, and judging takes up only a small portion of a machine’s time.  The Uni High team has always sought to be able to run the machine for each and every group of people who are interested in seeing it.

            Because of our very spectator-friendly strategy, the Uni High Rube Goldberg machine has often been a crowd favorite.  In 2015 we won the People’s Choice award – this was the first year that this award was offered beyond the standard first, second, and third place.  Team members have also been featured and interviewed by news organizations numerous times.

                        Needs Assessment:

            Because of the sheer number of times that our machine runs throughout the day, several problems develop.  First of all, probability dictates that essentially everything that can go wrong will go wrong.  Because of this, consistency and reliability are two of the greatest obstacles that we face in readying our machine.  In addition, plain and simple deterioration of parts and components can cause problems and delays, sometimes very significant ones if we do not have the necessary repair materials on hand.  Lastly, and contributing to the other problems, the quality of the materials we use is often quite low.  Generally, as a cost saver and generally more efficient method, we use random bits and pieces that we have lying around to cobble together as many steps as we can.  Generally we avoid purchasing any non-absolutely-essential supplies, and sometimes have to alter or abandon plans because of budget issues.

            To solve all of these problems, we would appreciate your considering a grant of ten thousand (10,000) dollars in order to provide a working budget for our next Rube Goldberg machine.  Access to these funds would allow us to do several things.  First of all, the quality of materials available to us would improve.  This would lead to an overall improvement in the effectiveness, durability, and appearance of the machine.  It would also open up greater possibilities in terms of steps themselves, allowing us to consider and implement far more interesting, appealing steps.  The funds would also allow us to spend far more time fine-tuning the machine, allowing us to drastically improve the consistency and reliability of our steps.  Far fewer mishaps would occur during the course of our numerous runs, and those that did would be oddities rather than the norm.

            All of these above things would contribute to us having a greatly improved machine.  Having such a machine at the competition would be greatly beneficial, not only to us, as builders of the machine, but also to all spectators.  As stated above, very few teams seek to showcase their machine for every group that comes along.  Again, the event is open to the public, and one of the largest attending demographics is younger, elementary and middle school children visiting the Engineering Open House.  Having an especially standout machine for them to see actually run, beyond the still forms of the other machines, greatly improves their experience and their perception of engineering and the sciences.  Relatedly, having a very good machine could lead to showings at various local schools, again providing these children with a hook into STEM.  In addition, winning first or second place at the EOH competition leads to an invitation to the national competition, which provides yet more opportunities and avenues for every positive thing mentioned above.

The Future of Driving

            A global revolution is commencing.  For years, huge corporations have released vast fleets of pollution producing machines that, as a side effect, also carried people around.  I’m talking, of course, about gasoline powered cars and the companies that sell them.

            Cars are one of the leading causes of global warming.  Until recently, almost every car in commercial, consumer use has been gasoline powered.  Both the companies that build these cars and the companies that provide fuel for them have grown rich and powerful.  But now a new company seems to be poised to grow rich and powerful off products with a single, key difference.

            The idea of an electric car has been around just as long as the idea of a gas powered car.  Gas engines, however, proved to be cheaper, more powerful, and more efficient than their electric counterparts – at least when they were first invented in the 19^th century.  Since then things have changed a little.

            Tesla Motors, in 2008, sold their first model: the Tesla Roadster.  It was the first fully-electric vehicle in the United States.  Since then, Tesla has come out with the Model S, the Model X, and, recently, the Model 3.  Tesla’s stated goal has been and is to provide affordable electric cars to the average consumer, and the Model 3 comes closer than ever to accomplishing this.  With a price tag of 35,000 dollars (before government incentives), the Model 3 is the cheapest electric car yet.  Since the beginning of order placement, Tesla has been swamped with orders, so many that they will not be able to fill all of them until 2019.

Is this the beginning of the end for conventional car companies?  It’s possible.  It may not happen for quite a while, but the world is making a choice.  That choice can be most aptly summarized by, strangely enough, Arnold Schwarzenegger:

“There are two doors. Behind Door Number One is a completely sealed room, with a regular, gasoline-fueled car. Behind Door Number Two is an identical, completely sealed room, with an electric car. Both engines are running full blast.

I want you to pick a door to open, and enter the room and shut the door behind you. You have to stay in the room you choose for one hour. You cannot turn off the engine. You do not get a gas mask.

I'm guessing you chose the Door Number Two, with the electric car, right? Door number one is a fatal choice - who would ever want to breathe those fumes?

This is the choice the world is making right now.”

The world hopefully is making this choice - I for one think it is the correct one.  How long it will be until the change is completed is another matter entirely - we must hope it isn't too late.   Or, you know, do something to ensure it isn’t too late.