Students of mechanical engineering used disposable diaper boxes and DixieT cups to prove their skills and ingenuity in the Engineering 696 class this semester. Six teams were required to design and build a system that would lift and deliver a paper cup containing two ounces of water from the floor to a target on a table as quickly as possible and without spilling the water. Building materials were limited to paper clips, rubber bands, cardboard, glue and masking tape. Pictured are some members of one team (l to r) Curtis Hartegen, Mathew Jaeger and Thu Ya Maw, who built a mechanism on wheels that rolled down a seesaw lift to deliver the water.

Photo: Denize Springer