2001
Dec 5, 2000
Students start on paper sails in hopes of netting $15,000

May 22, 1999
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE STUDENTS TRIUMPH IN PAPER KAYAK COMPETITION, COLLECT $15,000 PRIZE

January 19, 1999
Students Building Paper Kayak in Hopes of sailing to $15,000 Prize

September 12, 1998
Students from Across Nation Vie for Energy Challenge '98 Title, Get Lesson in Design Efficiency

September 3, 1998
Egg-Ceptional Students Hope Packaging Will Yield $15,000 Award

September 24, 1997
Students from Across the Nation get a Lesson in Pulp and Paper as They Prepare for Energy Challenge '98

NEWS MEDIA CONTACTS:
U.S. Department of Energy:
Sarah Manion, (303) 275-4709

Project Manager, IPST
(404) 894-8277

EGG-CEPTIONAL STUDENTS HOPE PACKAGING WILL YIELD $15,000 AWARD
September 3, 1998 -- What do you get when you combine a raw egg and 64 cubic feet of water in a container and drop it from 20 feet? Hopefully nothing if you're one of the eight college teams competing for the $15,000 award from Energy Challenge '98, taking place Sept. 12 at the Institute of Paper Science and Technology in Atlanta, Ga.

The competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Institute of Paper Science and Technology (IPST), Hercules Inc. and the pulp and paper industry, requires college teams to design and construct a package that will protect a raw egg when dropped up to 20 feet onto a solid surface.

To receive the $15,000 award, the winning team's package, which contains 64 cubic inches of water and a raw egg, must not leak and must remain intact after a series of drops, starting at five feet and going up to 20 feet. Packages must be made with chemical wood pulp, secondary wood cellulose and paper chemicals only.

The purpose of Energy Challenge '98 is to foster education and awareness of manufacturing design efficiency, packaging technology, recycling, waste minimization and pulp and paper industrial processes. The competition is associated with the U.S. Department of Energy's Agenda 2020 -- a program to help the pulp and paper industry reach the vision of more energy efficient manufacturing processes in the year 2020.

With the help of a $2,000 project startup grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, the competitors were tasked with preparing a design proposal and project reports; raise funds; and design and construct an efficient package in which to protect the egg.

Participating students are learning design efficiency, the structural mechanics of packaging products, waste minimization and the industrial processes of the pulp and paper industry. In addition to how the teams' eggs survive the series of drops, the final scores will also be based upon the proposal and reports submitted to contest officials beginning last September.

Schools competing in Energy Challenge '98 include: Clarkson University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Miami University in Ohio, Mississippi State University, North Carolina State University, University of Colorado at Denver, University of Maine and Western Michigan University.

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