Nearly 50,000 spectators lined the streets of Providence, Rhode Island, Saturday, October 13, to watch 57 teams from across the United States and Canada race their gravity-powered carts at Red Bull Soapbox Race. The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology team, The Good, The Bad, And The Nerdy, took home first place with their over sized calculator craft named "The Numerator 2.0." "As engineers, we deal with numbers all the time, and we thought it would be fitting to create a calculator-themed craft," Justin Williamson, team leader, said. The Numerator 2.0 is a four-wheeled soapbox craft constructed of steel and fiberglass. The craft was constructed in the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Production, CAMP, at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. CAMP aims to offer the best possible undergraduate engineering educational experience to build science and engineering leadership to confront the challenges of the future.
Not to be confused with the youth soapbox derby, the Red Bull Soapbox Race is fueled by creativity and competitive fun, not to mention the need for speed. The race, organized by the energy drink Red Bull, challenges teams to design, build and race gravity powered soapbox crafts in a downhill race against the clock.
Teams are judged on three criteria: speed, creativity and showmanship. Red Bull claims the soapbox race is the only race where fast is good, but outrageous is even better. The Good, The Bad, And The Nerdy had speed, creativity and showmanship all dialed in on race day.
"The course was amazing--we almost lost control in the last corner of the course but we kept it together," Anthony Johnson, team pilot, said. Charlie Murray was the co-pilot onboard navigating Johnson through the turns. Johnson and Murray piloted the course in 37 seconds, reaching a top speed of 39 miles per hour. The nearest competitor completed the course a full 6 seconds slower.
The competition is more than a race against the clock to the finish line. Teams are required to entertain the crowd before their race with a skit and music to illustrate the craft's theme.
"This project requires us to not only design and build a fast craft, but requires us to be creative in how we present it," Williamson said. "Engineers tend to get stereotyped as left brained individuals that lack creativity. This project aims to correct this stereotype."
No strangers to the race, The Good, The Bad, And The Nerdy began the quest to create the world's fastest calculator to race in the 2006 Red Bull Soapbox Race in St. Louis, Missouri. For more information about the race, visit http://www.redbullsoapboxusa.com/Providence-2007. To watch the team's performance, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rE0eHFm1X4
Team members include Anthony Johnson (mechanical engineering, 2007), Charlie Murray (industrial engineering, 2004), Brett Moorman (interdisciplinary sciences, Rapid City), Justin Williamson (M.S. mechanical engineering, Rapid City), and Mark Chase (mechanical engineering, Saint Louis University). 