Anything but cracked.

That will be the goal in a few weeks, once seniors return from May Project, for Brian Wildeman’s Design Communications class where students will compete against each other in an egg drop contest. The class focuses on web, logo, publication and 3-D design as well as 3-D printing.

Egg dropping comes down to keeping the egg safe. The contest will test of both physics and design. In egg-dropping contests, students have restricted materials to construct vessels for the eggs. The constructed vessels and their egg are dropped from 15 feet in the air. Once they hit the ground, if the egg is not cracked, the vessel is dropped from a higher height.

“I mean really it comes down to two approaches,” Mr. Wildeman said. “Either the thing you put it in is somehow padded enough, or something slows down the fall.”

Mr. Wildeman’s contest version has unique rules and restraints. Students are only using a 3-D printer to create vessels to support and protect their eggs.

The 3-D printer can print multiple types of plastic, from soft and bendable to rigid and stiff. With the different materials, the design possibilities are endless.

Students ended up designing everything from planes to multi-layer balls.

“Students come up with all different strategies,” Mr. Wildeman said, “and the vessels cover such a wide variety. The creativity is incredible and I think that is one of main the reasons I do this competition.”