本校雙語部參加「以色列理工學院」主辦的2017年國際魯比高堡機械競賽(Rube
Goldberg)，榮獲全球第三名的佳績。以色列理工學院（Israel Institute of
Technology）是一所享譽全球的理工大學，與美國麻省理工學院和英國帝國理工學院齊名。
魯比高堡機械是一種經過設計的機械組合，機器設計由繁雜的零件所組成，用繁複的操作方式將零件的功能一環一環連結起來，而機器的目的則是完成一個或數個簡單的功能。不僅需活用物理、化學觀念與機械運作原理，還可以訓練系統思考與解決問題的能力，更重要的是創意思考與創造力的培養。
雙語部十一年級同學：李先勇（Alan）、辜惟亮(Alex)、陳家慶(Anthony)、馮琛原（Brian）、黃紘（Hong）、洪子凡（Hubert）、金亨鎮（Thomas）等同學，耗時一個月的時間歷經屢次失敗後，共同討論及修正錯誤，終於在報名期限截止前，挑戰自己的潛能，完成此項艱鉅的任務。同時，本校也是本年度台灣唯一代表參賽學校。
以「世界地球日」為主題，並融入台灣童玩特色，兼具臺灣文化與創意力十足的設計，獲得國際評審青睞。學生期許透過參加魯比高堡機械競賽，宣揚環保理念，因此大部分的材料皆取材自學校資源回收室，以實際行動響應環保的決心。影片中設計的巧思更涵蓋了許多環境保護議題，諸如：空氣汙染、廢水排放、濫砍濫伐、土石流等等。進一步提倡5R的環保概念：循環利用(Recycle)、再生能源(Regrow)、物盡其用(Reuse)、減少慾望(Reduce)
、拒絕浪費(Refuse)。影片的最後，希望透過具體的實踐環保，影響越來越多不同的人投入心力，一同守護我們的美麗家園。
Alex:
30 consecutive days at school. Over 200 hours spent in the
Future Classroom. We as a team had achieved something that none
of us would have thought of: a Rube Goldberg Machine. While we
had no prior experience making such sophisticated machines, we
were all determined to never give up. Sometimes we would make a
small machine for a whole day and realize that it was not
applicable to our project. Other times we would argue over
varying methods of approaching a single step. Yet, through these
efforts, we learned to improve and think in a different angle
and alternative perspective and most importantly work with one
another while respecting each other’s opinions. Lastly, I would
truly like to thank all my teammates, teachers, and parents who
spent immense effort in making this whole project possible. We
truly had a blast!
Alan:
Knowing how to “physics”, being creative, thinking outside the
box, these were all useful throughout our experience making a
Rube Goldberg Machine, but they aren’t what I personally think
is the most important. As cliche as it may sound, anyone given
the circumstances can pull off the intellectual part of making
the machine. The true difficulty lies in working with the group.
In a group where you literally spend days together cooped up in
a room, everyone must not only share the same level of
commitment to the project, but be able to compromise ideas and
workloads. Everyone in the group must be able to proudly say “I
was part of this project” by the end of the day, and trust me,
that’s a lot harder than it sounds.
Anthony:
Initially, all of us were very excited to build our own Rube
Goldberg machine for the first mine. All of us had great ideas
and it seemed like it would it be a relatively easy task. Little
did we know that this project would take over a month’s worth of
time and would be one of the most difficult things that most of
us have ever done. Before we started building the the Rube
Goldberg machine, we had already seemingly planned everything
out . We had a design for each step, and everything seemed like
it would work out. Day by day, we started noticing all kinds of
problems that we never thought of. At the end we still managed
to construct a prize winning Rube Goldberg machine. Even though
we faced many troubles while doing our project, we all
persevered and finished it together. I think I learned a lot of
valuable things from doing this project, and I feel a
strengthened bond between me and all my groupmates.
Brian:
What really is this Rube Goldberg project?
By definition, it is a contraption in which a series of devices
that perform simple tasks are linked together to produce a
domino effect.
However, what did it really mean?
To our parents, it is not being able to see their child during
the weekends for a few months. To our classmates, it is just a
few kids posting snapchat stories about how they are still at
school at midnight. But to us?
It is growth.
At the start of this project, no one knew how things are
supposed to be, because it is a project that requires 7 students
to work with each other from early morning to midnight every
weekend. Even though we’ve all been classmates for so long now,
we never had to work with each other for such an immense amount
of time. Naturally, we had our arguments and conflicts during
the process. However, that is what made this project meaningful,
the hardship we went through trying to combine all the different
ideas and proposals into one machine made us grow.
Hong:
It was about halfway done when we realized the rest might be too
idealistic. Despite we manage to collect the materials we needed
through different means, what we neglected was our own ability
to construct the machine. The consequence reflected on the
machine: a short expectancy. A few adjustments must be made each
shot and nothing last overnight. LOL.
Thomas:
As soon as we know that we had to create a Rube Goldberg machine
and how it was related to the theme of “Earth day,” our team
sprang into action: using recycled goods as our machine’s basis.
Of course we faced several challenges such as realizing the
fragility of the materials only after we finished halfway into
making the machines. Yes, it took a lot of days and nights,
including national holidays, to work on this machine. Yes, it
sometimes caused us to argue which way would be best to convey a
concept. However, not only are we able to stand proud about our
achievement, but we have also gained a lot out of this
competition: enhanced creativity, better communication, and
strengthening teamwork. We cannot have attained this feat
without the full support of our supervisors Ms. Nini and Mrs.
Casey, our parents, and all of my irreplaceable teammates!
Hubert:
At the beginning of the project, we all had marvelous ideas that
we want to implement into this machine that would present to the
world the problems of Earth and the possible solutions to
resolves those problems. However, realizing ideas is extremely
difficult. Some ideas that we thought could be done in an hour
turned out to be almost impossible due to our limited time,
money, and knowledge. THAT’S REALITY! We experienced a key
lesson for future projects—create a balance between ideals and
reality. However, with determination and perseverance, we
overcame the setbacks and eventually completed our machine. IT
FELT UNREAL.Though different from what we first imagined, our
Rube Goldberg Machine became both a challenge and a lesson for
our future development in life.
