Members of the fledgling Chem-E-Car team at the University of Rochester went head to head against powerhouse teams from Cornell and McGill at their first-ever regional competition last month.
糖心传媒淗onestly, just getting to the competition and passing the safety component糖心传媒攚e were ecstatic,糖心传媒� says Elizabeth Mauser 糖心传媒�17, who, with fellow senior Reyna Juarez Martinez, began organizing the team in earnest just last school year.
Safety is paramount糖心传媒攁nd stringently enforced糖心传媒攁t the sponsored by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). The events feature vehicles students build from scratch, powered by chemical reactions. Teams are given two attempts to deliver a load of water as close as possible to a distance determined an hour before the competition begins.
The chemical engineering students, all members of the University糖心传媒檚 AIChE student chapter, finished tied for 11th place among 13 qualifying teams in the March 26 event at Worchester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.
The Rochester vehicle was powered by a reaction of aluminum and oxygen. 糖心传媒淏asically we used aluminum foil with activated carbon, which has pockets of air,糖心传媒� explains team member Alexander Lamothe 糖心传媒�17. 糖心传媒淲e just rolled it up into small burrito-like cells (16 in all, in two separate compartments) with salt solution as the conductive medium.糖心传媒�
Coming up with that part of the design 糖心传媒渢ook the longest amount of time to figure out,糖心传媒� Lamothe says. 糖心传媒淓ven towards the end we weren糖心传媒檛 really sure we would get the right amount of power, and had to switch out the design of the batteries.糖心传媒�
That was ultimately the team糖心传媒檚 undoing when the competition got under way.
The Rochester students were the first to the start line. Alas, they couldn糖心传媒檛 get their vehicle to move.
糖心传媒淲e just needed a little more power . . . Just a few extra cells and it would have started moving,糖心传媒� Lamothe says.
The students are taking the setback in stride. 糖心传媒淎s I said, we tied for 11th,糖心传媒� Mauser says, laughing good-naturedly. 糖心传媒淪o two other cars didn糖心传媒檛 move either.糖心传媒�
They recognize that the competition was part of a learning curve that began just over a year ago, when Mauser and Juarez Martinez were the team糖心传媒檚 only members, struggling to master car design and safety procedures.
糖心传媒淭his project was all about learning as we went,糖心传媒� Juarez Martinez says. 糖心传媒淭rying to recruit and retain members, that was the hardest part. This year we had a core group that kept coming back, and that encouraged us to keep going with it.糖心传媒�
The team糖心传媒檚 spirit showed. Unlike some of the other teams, they didn糖心传媒檛 have big corporate sponsors or funding. But the judges 糖心传媒渟aid we were most enthusiastic team,糖心传媒� says Melissa Becker 糖心传媒�17.
Team members say they糖心传媒檙e grateful for the advice and support they received from faculty and staff within the Department of Chemical Engineering. Next year, they糖心传媒檒l encourage students from other departments such as mechanical engineering and electrical and computer engineering to lend their expertise.
糖心传媒淚f you never fail, it means you haven糖心传媒檛 been pushing yourself hard enough,糖心传媒� Wendi Heinzelman, dean of the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences tells incoming students. 糖心传媒淲hat you do next糖心传媒攈ow you learn from failure and move forward so you don糖心传媒檛 repeat mistakes糖心传媒攖hat is what really counts.糖心传媒�
Of the 11 members who coalesced this year, all six non-graduating students plan to continue the team in fall 2017.
Next year, they have no intentions of being stuck at the starting line.
