By CHRISTA BUGEE
Do you like your eggs scrambled or sunny-side up? The participants in the egg-drop contest Tuesday afternoon preferred their eggs raw and uncracked.
The contest, one in a series of events during engineering week, occurred out a top-floor window of the B-66 building, 20 feet up. Only one egg casualty and one minor egg injury happened during the contest.
'I won the egg drop in high school,' said Ben Lewis, a freshman from Rome, Ohio majoring in mechanical engineering. '(Tuesday) my egg cracked, not from the actual drop, but from when it tipped over after.'
Participants received 50 points for not breaking the egg, and only 25 points if the egg had any cracks after the fall. One point was also awarded for each second of time the egg stayed in the air.
Micah Yablonovsky, a senior from Diamond Springs, Calif. majoring in statistics, won the competition -- his egg stayed airborne for seven seconds. 'I thought the balloons would be a new idea,' he said. 'I was surprised to see how many people actually used balloons.'
More than half of the participants used balloons to slow the speed of the drop. 'I didn't realize the competition would be so fierce,' said Jeremy Ripley, a junior from Detroit majoring in manufacturing engineering. Ripley used a cushioned basket and helium balloons to slow his drop. He took fourth place in the contest.
The contest accepted any non-motorized, non-propelled device that would not cause damage to the asphalt. All parachutes, non-motorized propellers and cushions were accepted.
'I think it was a lot of fun,' said John Parise, a senior from Mission Viejo, Calif. majoring in mechanical engineering. 'It was disappointing that it was a little windy, but you can't account for that.'
Parise took third place in the competition.
Parise and his friend, Tom Raisor, a senior from Provo majoring in mechanical engineering, combined their efforts and decided that if either of them won a prize that they would split the money.
The first place participant received $25 and the second and third place winners received $15 and $10 respectively.
'I entered for the money,' Raisor said. 'I was satisfied with the performance of my parachute, helium balloon and egg carton design.'
Raisor got second place for his device.