Champs turn orange juice rivals into pulp

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Feb. 24 (UPI) -- The defending champions of Indiana's Rube Goldberg Regional Machine Contest kept their crown Saturday by designing the best orange juice-producing machine.

The battle among teams of Purdue University students and engineering students from Kentucky's Murray State University gave competitors a chance to design the most unique and inefficient machine to create freshly-squeezed orange juice from a whole orange, and pour the juice from a pitcher into a cup in at least 20 steps.

When the smoke cleared at the 24th rendition of the event, the Purdue University Society of Professional Engineers took home the top prize for the third straight year.

As part of its inefficient but effective design, the team's "Secret Agent Man 00J: The Orange is Not Enough" machine implemented the use of photographs, a parachute and even a toy Slinky in its creation of a glass of orange juice, a university release said.

After the event, team captain Drew Wischer was modest regarding his 16-member team's triumph.

"It was a tough one to win because all the teams had such great machines," he said.

Purdue will host the national competition March 31.