• The 2022 Rube Goldberg Machine will run at Charles Sturt Engineering in Bathurst at 11am on Friday 11 March
• The current intake of student engineers who built the machine is the seventh cohort to start the program

The annual first task for commencing first-year student engineers at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst is to construct and run a giant Rube Goldberg Machine.

This year the dynamic Rube Goldberg Machine will run at 11am on Friday 11 March at Charles Sturt Engineering in Bathurst and everyone is invited to attend to watch the machine in action.

Charles Sturt Senior Engineer-in-Residence Mr Joshua Devitt explained that in their first two weeks at Charles Sturt Engineering, commencing student engineers participate in an introductory learning exercise in which they cooperate in teams to construct and operate the complex ‘machine’ known as a ‘Rube Goldberg Machine’.

“It’s a case of ‘in at the deep end’ for our commencing student engineers with their first team-building and problem-solving exercise, building a Rube Goldberg Machine” Mr Devitt said.

“Based on the 1928 inventions comics by inventor and engineer, Rube Goldberg, a Rube Goldberg Machine features numerous steps that interact and combine to perform a simple task.

“In Rube Goldberg’s comics, these simple tasks included fishing an olive out of a bottle, scratching your own back, and swatting a fly.”

Mr Devitt said they give the machine project a theme which needs to be incorporated somehow and the theme changes annually.

“In 2022 the theme is the mathematical number ‘Pi’ (3.14159 + 31 trillion digits),” Mr Devitt said.

“The machine will start with dominos falling, as it always does, triggered by a special guest.

“This year the special guest is the new Charles Sturt University Vice-Chancellor Professor Renée Leon.”

The machine also included specific ‘carry over champion steps’, which are specific elements of machines from previous years, as well as new innovative steps the students create.

The current 2022 intake of student engineers is the seventh cohort to start the program.

The first students, who premiered the CSU Engineering Rube Goldberg Machine in 2016, graduated from the Bachelor of Technology/Masters of Engineering (Civil Systems) last year.

Cadet engineers are already working around NSW, mainly in regional areas, providing a boost to the engineering services available in these areas, as was envisioned at the creation of the course.

The video of the 2019 Charles Sturt Engineering Rube Goldberg Machine is available to watch on YouTube.

The event will be staged at Charles Sturt Engineering (building 1305) on Village Drive at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst starting at 11am on Friday 11 March.

All students, staff and guests will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have proof of a medical exemption to attend this event. Masks are optional.