Enthusiasts get cracking with eggs to defy gravity

Dubai: They say you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette.

SAE Institute student Barry Moore said he and his Red Bull Rastas teammates had dashed more than 50 eggs trying to perfect their act for the Red Bull Gravity Challenge finale, which was held at Dubai Knowledge Village yesterday.

"We've used a lot of eggs testing our egg-landing machine since we heard about the competition two weeks ago," said Moore and his friends, Dominic Carolan and Zion Veira, who all study audio engineering at SAE Institute.

Hundreds of enthusiastic youngsters have been defying the laws of gravity with their egg-landing contraptions as they take part in various stages of the Red Bull Gravity Challenge to get a chance to scale up to a full-fledged skydiving experience.

Rounds one and two of the event were recently held at Dubai International Academic City and UAE University, Al Ain, respectively. When Gulf News arrived at the competition venue, students were furiously making last-minute adjustments to their entries. Curious onlookers crowded around eager to see who would win.

Strong field

Moore's group demonstrated how their entry would hold an egg that can be dropped from a height of 15 metres without the eggshell breaking.

"It cost us about Dh150 in plastic, silk and rope to build a plastic ball that holds the egg, which is attached to a parachute. We drop the ball and when it hits the ground it cracks open and the egg rolls out."

"We know we're going to win. It wasn't very successful at first but now we're at a 75 per cent success rate," Moore said.

The Hogs team, however, were a little nervous about their strange entry that resembled a goat's head. Team members Nigel Fernandez, at SAE Institute, Salman Shaikh and Ardala Saberi, at Middlesex University Dubai, said they had not tested their device until the day of competition.

"Today is the first time we're actually using an egg in our tests. Hopefully it lands properly and the egg doesn't break. We're quite nervous because they are some good entries out there," said Fernandez.

Other teams had entries that ranged from the elaborate and whacky to the simplistic.

The competition was open to university members across the UAE including students, professors, tutors, lecturers and assistants. Teams of three may participate but only one contestant is allowed to go to the starting platform in order to drop the egg. The other team members may call out tips and suggestions from ground level.

Participating in the event requires one to draw a sketch of the egg-landing contraption, which cannot exceed 5kg in weight and one square metre in size. The machine is technically scrutinised before the start of the event and should there be any dangerous ramnifications the egg only makes it as far as a frying pan. Each team has one minute for a brief display before dropping the device from the platform. The creativity behind the machine is also evaluated.