Structural Engineers Association of Arizona Host Annual 'Egg Drop'

On Friday, Jan. 31, the Structural Engineers Association of Arizona hosted the 2nd Annual Egg-Drop Competition and Fundraiser at the University of Arizona. At this competition, teams of UArizona engineering students and local professionals were tasked with creating an apparatus to protect a raw chicken egg from cracking when dropped 35 feet from the second landing of the CAEM courtyard staircase. 

According to SEAoA, the competition is dual purposed: to raise money for SEAoA's Annual Student Scholarship given to deserving UArizona students interested in structural engineering; and to provide a networking opportunity for professionals and students in the fields of engineering, architecture and construction.

The competition is intended to mirror the structural engineering teams by giving teams a situation in which they need to protect the public, represented by the egg, and provide and economical – in this case, lightweight – design. The teams only had a bag of random materials and 20 minutes to create a device to save their egg. Some teams crafted parachutes, while others made devices to absorb the impact. 

In the end, 13 eggs were dropped, resulting in six eggs uncracked, four cracked, and three "annihilated."

Team 5 came in first place with an apparatus weighing 79 grams – 31 grams less than the previous year's winner. The team consisted of University of Arizona civil engineering students Adam Bishop and Sergio Corona, and M3 Engineering and Technology Corp engineers Allan Ortega and Austin Urton. Ortega and Urton are both alumni of the department.