AJHS teams place 2nd and 3rd in Rube Goldberg global Minecraft challenge

Two teams from Ateneo de Manila Junior High School's BluBLOC varsity were recently named winners of the 2024 NASEF (Network of Academic and Scholastic Esports Federations) Digital Rube Goldberg Machine Minecraft Contest, besting hundreds of students from more than a dozen countries.

Placing second in the seniors’ division (13-18 years old) was BluBLOC Team A, with members Josef Ansay (9-Harcourt), Amiel Baquir (9-Grimaltos), Paco Javier (7-Alfonso), and Dylan Lim (7-Alonso). Placing third in the same division was BluBLOC Team B, with members Ian Auto (7-Berno), Hanns Bumatay (9-Garnet), Ethan Hizon (9-Goto), and Gab Macabuhay (9-Goto). They were coached by BluBLOC varsity moderators Jason Arias, Joel Falgui, and Lavi Subang. 

The winners were announced online via a YouTube video that was streamed on 8 May 2024. Watch the announcement of the Ateneans as winners (and see their winning entries) at timestamp 24.55 - 38.00 mins below.

As the second placer, AJHS BluBLOC Team A received a US $150 Amazon gift card, while third placer AJHS BluBLOC Team B received a US $100 Amazon gift card. 

For the 2024 NASEF challenge, students were challenged to devise and build a virtual Rube Goldberg machine using Minecraft that would “put toothpaste on a toothbrush.” A Rube Goldberg machine is described in the above video as a contraption that does “something simple in a very complicated way that is not necessary.” The entries also had to incorporate the six simple machines, namely, the lever, screw, inclined plane, pulley, wedge, and wheel & axel. The competition was judged by Erik Leitner, Minecraft Education Ambassador; and Jennifer George, Legacy Director of the Rube Goldberg Institute for Innovation & Creativity and granddaughter of Rube Goldberg himself.  

More than 2500 students from 15 countries joined the competition, which had three divisions: Junior (8 to 13 years old), Senior (13-18 years old), and Collegiate (18+ years old). Per the NASEF website, the NASEF Digital Rube Goldberg Machine Minecraft Contest is "a STEAM competition where students compete with machines that they have imagined, designed in Minecraft Education Edition, and created in a fun and competitive forum."