{"id":17063,"date":"2017-05-01T11:59:11","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T15:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=17063"},"modified":"2017-07-06T14:02:42","modified_gmt":"2017-07-06T18:02:42","slug":"chem-e-car-team-heads-alche-nationals-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2017\/05\/chem-e-car-team-heads-alche-nationals-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"Chem-E-Car Team heads to AlChe Nationals in the fall"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The UTC Chem-E-Car, the Chem-e-Leon.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/b>Chem-E-Leon took on the Goliaths and came out as David.<\/span><\/p>\n

The little car that could \u2014 designed and built by the UTC Chem-E-Car Team \u2014 came in second place in the regional American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Chem-E-Car Competition, beating schools such as Georgia Tech, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, the University of South Alabama and Auburn University. <\/span><\/p>\n

With that win under its belt, in November the UTC team will be moving on to the national AlChE Chem-E-Car Competition in Minnesota.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s pretty awesome, considering we\u2019re a smaller school and we don\u2019t have the kind of resources to devote to this that other larger schools do. For instance, Georgia Tech funded two cars, and we only funded one, but ours beat both of theirs,\u201d said Dr. <\/span>Bradley Harris<\/span><\/a>, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each year, a student team from the <\/span>College of Engineering and Computer Science<\/span><\/a> designs and fabricates a car that can be powered and stopped by chemical reactions. And it must be so small that, when disassembled, it will fit into a shoebox. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chem-E-Leon got its name from a special chemical reaction, said Harris. \u201cIt\u2019s called the \u2018chameleon reaction,\u2019\u201d he explained. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe car\u2019s power reaction is a chemical battery using magnesium and copper with an acid solution. They have this very neat reaction that they use to stop the car that changes colors across this whole spectrum, and when it hits a certain color they want, that\u2019s when the circuit stops.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s success matches the UTC team\u2019s highest placement at regionals to date, having placed second <\/span>once before in 2015<\/span><\/a>. This will also be fourth time in seven years the team has qualified for nationals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Armed with their various vehicles, college teams face off in regional competitions in spring. The top five teams go on to nationals in the fall.<\/span><\/p>\n

Time is tight in the competition. An hour before it starts, the distance and the weight the cars must carry is decided at random. The teams then determine the detailed chemical processes required to move their car the exact distance carrying the assigned load. Each team has two runs, and the team that comes closest to the goals wins. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo you have to have taken data for your car at different distances and different water weights and have everything calibrated,\u201d Harris said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The UTC team was responsible for all aspects of the competition, including planning, engineering, budgeting, construction, and learning to work together toward a common goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Team members: Peter Hills, Cohin Ruble, Braulio Ferrando, Drew McKinney, Ben Irvin, Ben Christie, Reed Boeger, Chris Purvis, Gabrielle Norton, Nick Peck, Evan Patrick, Ralph Foster, Nisarg Hansaliya, and Dr. Bradley Harris, Faculty Adviser.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really proud of them, particularly the seniors,\u201d Harris said. \u201cWe had really talented, dedicated students who are always working hard in the lab. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe students are very independent. They handle everything themselves. They work on the car, fill out all the paperwork to get it registered, meet the deadlines. I don\u2019t advise much on the specifics of the car, I just make sure they have the resources they need and the team is doing well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While other colleges have teams made up of nothing but chemical engineers, Harris attributes part of the UTC team\u2019s success to its interdisciplinary members, which include chemical, mechanical, and electrical engineering students.<\/span><\/p>\n

A mechanical engineer helps keep the Chem-e-Leon correctly aligned. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo where other schools may mess up is, say, they may not have the car aligned, so when the car accelerates, it veers off, and if you go too far out of bounds, you\u2019re disqualified,\u201d Harris explained. <\/span><\/p>\n

An electrical engineer, \u201cknows how to program a circuit. That\u2019s very helpful to get the car to stop exactly where you want it to.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s a big reason we\u2019re successful every year,\u201d Harris said. <\/span><\/p>\n

With seniors graduating, the team will be down a few members when it returns to competitions in the fall, but they\u2019re up for the challenge of carrying on without them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou need members of the team who are juniors and sophomores who can keep carrying the torch. That helps us too. Some teams only have the minimum number of members, and if they\u2019re seniors and they leave, then the next year\u2019s team has no continuity,\u201d explained Harris.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only will team members continue perfecting their car for the national competition, they will simultaneously begin work on the next year\u2019s car. Once a team qualifies for nationals, it cannot run the same car again the following year in regionals; some aspect of the design must change.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll sort of be on a dual track. They will have to make sure this car is ready for nationals, and also begin work on a new power or stopping reaction for the car for the following spring\u2019s regional competition,\u201d said Harris.<\/span><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s team is learning from last year\u2019s mistakes. Like many other schools, the car used hydrogen fuel cells for power. But after placing second in 2015, the team came up with its own chemical battery for the first time in 2016. <\/span><\/p>\n

But the battery was left it in its chemical solution during shipping so, when the team tried to run it at regionals, corrosion kept it from moving. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey learned that lesson,\u201d Harris said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey have been perfecting this car for a year now. This time, they definitely shipped the solutions separated and didn\u2019t put the metal parts, the anode and the cathode, in contact with the solution until the car was ready to run.<\/span><\/p>\n

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