Last year's winner... (Score 1)

...which survived being dropped from 5 floors up (from the pool deck of the Baltimore Waterfront Hilton, in case anyone cares): http://kriven.mse.uiuc.edu/recent/geopolymers/ACER S%20GP%20mug%20dropping/mug2005.htm And this one won the year before, with a 50-ft drop onto concrete: http://kriven.mse.uiuc.edu/recent/geopolymers/ACER S%20GP%20mug%20dropping/mug2004.htm Note: neither of these had "sacrificial layers" or anything like that - they were a room-temperature cured aluminosilicate ceramic ("geopolymer") with carbon fibre reinforcing, made by the "traditional powerhouse" (TFA's words, not mine) Illinois team.