DCAD’s Egg Drop eggsperiment

You could hear laughter and cheers blocks away from the Delaware College of Art and Design (DCAD) where dozens of grade “A” eggs fell from the sky Thursday.

DCAD hosted its annual Egg Drop Thursday, where about 90 “3D Design” students launched their homework from the school’s roof. But we’re not talking worksheets here. These students were assigned to design and build a device that could protect an egg when dropped five stories from the school’s roof onto a target. Students were instructed to use Leonardo da Vinci as their role model, researching his sketches and ideas on flight and flying machines.

Students had to make their structures using a specific list of materials including three sheets of basswood, string, two eight inch dowels and paper no larger than 36″x36″. Glue was forbidden.

Judged primarily on aesthetics, winners were also picked based on whether the device appeared structurally sound. In all, several students were named winners, earning bragging rights until next year’s Egg Drop, even if their structures met with a scrambled landing.

Here are the winners by category:

Best in Show Winners: Keiichiro Takakura

Emily Taylor Bridget Schmidt

Jordan Papadopoulos Monica Seldow Hui-Tzu Chen

Rachel Padden Sean Cuttino Bernadette Szrom

Christopher Ramos Closest to the bulls eye with the biggest splat: Dominic Russo Closest to the bulls-eye with no splat: Emily MacDonald

The students were given $10 gift cards to Shop Rite, while Dominic Russo and Emily MacDonald, the students whose eggs landed closest to the target with and without a splat, received $25 gift cards to Michael’s.