Technion Hosts World's Longest Yo-Yo Competition
Monday, June 13, 2011
By: Kevin Hattori

Take a giant yo-yo on a 65-foot rope, a nearly 100-foot tall crane, and the creative minds of Technion-Israel Institute of Technology students, and you have the makings of the 2011 "Dr. Bob's Technobrain Competition." The finals of the annual contest took place on Wednesday, June 15 on the Zielony Plaza Lawn (at the heart of the Technion campus). This year's competition was won by Eyal Moshe Cohen, a mechanical engineering student at the Technion.

The yo-yos, touted as "the world's longest," featured bodies (discs and axles) designed and constructed by the competitors from a myriad of materials and a dynamic rope supplied by Technobrain organizers.  The yo-yos were released from a special drop-floor compartment at the top of the crane; competitors were not allowed to utilize any external energy sources.

Competition winner Eyal Moshe Cohen and his winning yo-yo.

Winners were determined by the maximum height the yo-yo reached on its first ascent after release from the crane, and the number of times it looped up and down to a minimum of more than 16.5 feet.  First, second and third place winners received approximately $3,000, $1,500, and $900, respectively.

Dr. Bob's Technobrain Competition is held annually in memory of the late Neev-Ya Durham, the promising engineering student and IDF officer who created it.  Durban was murdered in Tel Aviv in March 2003.  Dr. Robert Shillman of San Diego, Calif., who did his graduate work at the Technion, funds the competition and the prizes.

The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is Israel's leading science and technology university. Home to the country's first winners of the Nobel Prize in science, it commands a worldwide reputation for its pioneering work in nanotechnology, computer science, biotechnology, water-resource management, materials engineering, aerospace and medicine. The majority of the founders and managers of Israel's high-tech companies are alumni. Based in New York City, the American Technion Society (ATS) is the leading American organization supporting higher education in Israel, with offices around the country.