The Chemical Engineering Club, or Chem-E Club, is hard at work on their new chem-e car project, which they will take to the regional American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) competition and, with any luck, on to nationals!
Each year, a student team from the Chemical Engineering Department at UTC designs and fabricates a car that can be powered and stopped by chemical reactions. Disassembled, the car must fit into a shoe box.
“The car we make has to start and stop based on chemical reactions. So we create a power reaction, to activate the battery, and a stopping reaction, which sends a signal to the motor to stop,” explained Reed Boeger, Club Treasurer.
Last year’s car, the Chem-eleon, beat out entries from University of Alabama, Auburn University, University of Florida, University of South Florida and went to the national competition. You can read more about that here.
“The team has gone to nationals four out of the last six years. This spring, in March, in Knoxville, we’re hoping to take first place back. We’ve been working very hard on this car,” Beoger said.
The UTC Chemical Engineering Club meets every Tuesday and Thursday at 5 P.M. You can get involved or just follow along with their activities at their Facebook page.
