A better mousetrap

Mechanical engineering student Brennen Raimer (right), EG ’06, prepares to propel a Reese’s Bite toward the target under the watchful eyes of (from left) graduate teaching assistant Stephanie Frangakis and teammates Dion Hutt, EG ’07, and Miguel Berg, EG ’06.

4:04 p.m., Dec. 12, 2003--The event—The 2003 “‘Introduction to Mechanical Engineering’ (MEEG) 101 Celebration,” held in Room 131 Sharp Lab, at 3 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 10

The challenge—To get a Reese’s Bite into a 3-inch diameter stryofoam cup perched on a three-foot pole, 30 feet from the launch pad using only mousetrap power for propulsion at a cost of no more than $5

The contestants—128 MEEG students in 33 teams

At the appointed hour, students filled 131 Sharp Lab, restlessly waiting to put their mousetrap launchers to the test. The competition was fierce as each team stepped up to the launch site, filled their traps with Bites and prepared to catapult the confection to victory.

Team 10.10’s mousetrap-powered launch apparatus

The launch mechanisms came in all shapes, sizes and forms, but the basic design was a hardware store mousetrap on some kind of platform or stabilizing unit with various types of spoons affixed to the spring mechanism of the trap. They used a pizza box, cement block, wood blocks and a school notebook to set their traps at just the right angle. One team configured a scope and laser beam to find the best angle, but in the end, no team was able to get a Bite into the cup.

Dick Wilkins, professor of mechanical engineering, teaches the course and created the yearly competition, replacing a final exam, as a way to bring all that MEEG students have learned about engineering design together in a fun end-of-the-course competition.

“Typically these freshman are too new to engineering to have much technical information, so we concentrate on the basic concept of how to do a mechanical engineering design, collaborating as a team and determining what is the actual problem that needs to be solved and how to go about solving it.”

Article by Barbara Garrison
Photos by Kathy Atkinson

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