Large Crowd Embraces the Return of Poly Pack’s Egg Drop Competition

There’s a strategy to protecting an egg from a 30-foot fall.

You have to consider stress points, weight, wind, materials and more.

“But the basic strategy is you need to know how the egg is going to fall once it’s inside your package,” said Koushik Saha, professor of industrial technology and packaging.

Even the best-planned packaging can result in an egg’s demise, though – as many discovered during the annual Egg Drop Competition at the San Luis Obispo Farmers’ Market.

“I tried to do mine, and it failed miserably,” Saha said with a laugh. “So even with having studied so much, it doesn’t mean anything when it comes to smashing eggs.”

Saha is a faculty advisor to the Cal Poly Egg Drop Competition, which is hosted the student club Poly Pack. The event recently returned to San Luis Obispo for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This event creates awareness around the importance of packaging, showcases the talent of the Cal Poly students, and hopefully inspires our youth to explore a future at Cal Poly or in packaging,” said Travis Robles, an account manager with Pregis, which sponsored the event.

The event features two divisions – one in which participants use a kit prepared by Poly Pack and another where competitors can use any materials — except for parachutes or gas. Cash prizes are awarded.

Once the large, uncooked eggs are packaged, Poly Pack students drop them from a lift offering a bird’s eye view of downtown San Luis Obispo. The first rule is simple: “The egg has to survive the drop,” Saha said.

But not really simple.

A large crowd turned out for this year’s Egg Drop Competition at the San Luis Obispo Farmers Market.

“There’s a lot of physics in packaging,” he said.

For the competition, judges measure mass, volume and time of fall – all of which are unnecessary if the egg is cracked, leading to disqualification.

“It’s really to show the community how challenging it is to make a package to ensure that something as fragile as an egg doesn’t break,” said Saira Mapes, a member of the Poly Pack club – and one of the egg droppers. “And collaborating with others and the creative problem solving that comes with packaging.”

Anyone who has ever had a product broken in the mail or on a flight knows the importance of good packaging.

“Shock and vibration are the two major abuses products receive during distribution,” Saha explained. “So we have a course dedicated to it known as Packaging Dynamics. This is where they learn how to create protective packaging around fragile products.”

In addition to providing a lesson in physics, the egg drop also illustrates sustainability since more efficient packaging uses fewer materials.

“If a package is unable to protect a product, then the energy and resources spent in making a product, such as an egg, is wasted,” Saha said. “Therefore the packaging solution is not a sustainable solution.”

During this year’s egg drop, participants lined up almost as soon as students set up, several holding creative designs. As Poly Pack member Marcus Dong emceed the event with a public address system, a large crowd gathered enthusiastically, their heads pointed toward the sky.

As Poly Pack member Joel Flores opened each dropped package for a suspenseful reveal, the audience cheered the survivors and mourned the fallen.

“The crowd is awesome,” Saha said, as the crowd cheered another egg drop in the background.

While the competition hadn’t been held since 2019, many members of the community remember the long-standing event from past years.

Poly Pack member Maribel Morales said her mother remembered it when she was a student in the 80s.

This year, a new generation experienced the drop, where walking on egg shells is just part of the learning process.

“Everyone is having fun,” Morales said after giving an interview to local news station KEYT. “And it’s nice to spread awareness of the major because it’s a hidden gem at Cal Poly.”