Local students design rollercoasters for all the marbles

No one was losing their marbles, although that was a constant danger.

Eighteen teams from 11 schools in the Hamilton County system recently participated in the first Marble Rollercoaster competition.

The event, hosted by the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, called on teams of four to design a track built to fit a marble, construct it  then compete against each other. Along with other criteria, the rollercoaster had to include a loop or a jump.

It all had to be done in 90 minutes.

Teams were instructed not to do any pre-planning or design work before coming to MacLellan Gym for the competition. All materials for building the tracks were in the gym when students arrived.

The tracks had to meet these criteria:

• The marble must travel to the end of the coaster with no help.
• The coaster must be at least one meter tall.
• It must include either a loop or a jump.
• The start and finish locations of the coaster must be clearly marked.
• Only the supplied materials can be used to build the coaster.

Coasters were judged on how many times the marble made it all the way through and how fast it completed each run. The creativity of the rollercoaster design also was rated.

“The inaugural event is hosted at UTC to celebrate the work of engineers and promote the engineering discipline as part of the events held in the greater Chattanooga area during the National Engineers Week,” said Daniel Pack, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

“Seeing the faces of young students designing and working diligently to create their marble roller coasters is delightful, knowing that they will have opportunities in constructing a great future for the nation.”