By Rich Green
IV Leader Associate/Sports Editor, March 19, 2009
There was no shortage of food as Illinois Valley Community
College hosted its fourth annual Edible Car Contest in the cafeteria on Feb.25.
The event was held in recognition of National Engineering
Week and put on by MIMIC (Making industry Meaningful in College) and the Career
& Technology Division.
Cars were made of anything ranging from potato and melon
bodies, pretzel and noodle axles to delicious wheels made of candy and cookies.
Some cars were built based on aesthetics, but most were built to become the
fastest of the edible cars.
“Ours was built for speed,” said Scott Nelson, one of four
designers of the first prize speed winner “Noodle Wagon” with a mark of .67
seconds. Their sleekly designed car was made of a single lasagna noodle for the
body, noodle axle and gobstopper wheels.
“It took about an hour to make,” Nelson continued. Not
everyone had the same success as the “Noodle Wagon.”
Some teams never even made it down the ramp.
“I knew it was going to happen,” said student Sam Stuepfert,
jokingly. He was “very proud” his car made of a Rice Krispy treat cab, rice cake
wheels and pretzel stacks. It was one of the few cars that did not make it down
the ramp.
Of the 23 entries in the contest, the “Magic School Bus”
designed by nutrition class students Pam Dalrymple, Nora Wren, Stephanie Hook
and Emily Stasell, was the most decorated. The team took home three first place
trophies including a third-place finish.
The track was a makeshift table slanted downward three feet
with wired sensors to give an accurate reading of each car’s time.
“We can do amazing things at this school,” said Jim Gibson,
Program Director of Electronics. “The program was built and wired by the
students.”
Prizes were awarded for design, creativity, detail,
nutritional value, judges’ favorite and in a few special categories.
In keeping with the edible theme, the prizes included
chocolate trophies and NASCAR shaped macaroni & cheese.
Judges were Bob Reese, business instructor; Francie
Skoflanc, program director of graphic design; and Travis McLaughlin, a CAD
student.
Organizers of the contest were Dorene Perez, program director
of Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided engineering, Gibson, and communications
Instructor Rose Marie Lynch.