Introduce A Girl To Engineering

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Children put contraptions to test during egg drop event at museum

 

 

Contest is final event of observance of Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day.

 

 

By TIA MITCHELL

The Times-Union

With a backdrop of original paintings worth thousands, four eggs were dropped Saturday from the third floor to the lobby of the Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art.

 

But luckily, each of the containers was designed to protect the fragile contents, as well as the surrounding art. The experiment ended with no mess, and only one serving of scrambled eggs.

 

The egg drop was the final event of the museum's observance of Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. There was also a panel discussion with engineers working in various fields from aerospace to public works.

 

But the excitement came when the eggs began to fall. A spaceship even landed.

 

Saluma Carroll of Riverside won second place with her container shaped like the Starship Enterprise.

 

"I'm a big Trekkie," said the 14-year-old Darnell-Cookman Middle School student.

 

The egg was in an empty toilet paper roll with one end connected to paper plates. Then the whole contraption was covered in duct tape.

 

"I'm hoping it will flip upside down so the egg doesn't hit first," she said.

 

Saluma's egg stayed intact, but she still lost to her 11-year-old brother's spike-shaped design. He had surrounded a toilet paper roll with colorful straws and secured it using duct tape.

 

"I thought it will work as like a spring action," said Campbell Carroll, a student at LaVilla School of the Arts, before the drop. With just a few children present, Campbell was allowed to compete.

 

The container did just as expected, bouncing slightly off the floor on impact. Campbell won a $50 gift certificate to The Discovery Store for his work.

 

Preston Haskell, chairman and founder of The Haskell Co., said his company signed on to co-sponsor the event because it wanted to celebrate National Engineers Week. He said the company understands the need to recruit and extend opportunities to women.

 

"The growing importance of women in the workplace is mirrored in engineering," Haskell said.

 

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