The Rube Goldberg team at Ferris, winners of the national competition in 2007, was recently invited to present a new machine on a Japanese game show to attempt to re-set their own world record.
The team, who left Jan. 3 for Tokyo and are returning Jan. 16, will be presenting the machine that has not been used in competition before with additional steps to complete the task.
A Rube Goldberg machine is meant to perform a simple task in as many steps as possible. In 2007, the Ferris team accomplished a record of an unofficial 315 steps to squeeze an orange into a pitcher.
“I am not quite sure how many steps we will achieve. It depends on how many we can build in such a short time frame,” said team member and electrical engineering technology major Michael Dunakin of the new machine being constructed. Dunakin was also a member of the team in 2007.
Those going on the trip include Kyle Hebner, an electrical engineering technology major, Bryan Williams, a mechanical engineering technology major, Dunakin and Professor Tom Hollen.
Dunakin also said that he is excited for the trip, and feels that this is a different type of excitement and experience than winning the national title.