Chemical engineers drive to victory

Students qualify for national championships in Chem E Car competition

A team of Rice chemical engineering students took first place March 24 in the regional Chem E Car competition sponsored by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

Rice students prepare their Chem E Car for competition at the AIChE Regionals at the University of Houston. Photo by Donald Soward

The students beat six other university entries in the event at the University of Houston with their hydrogen fuel-cell-driven vehicle. Their regional placement qualifies them to race in the national finals that will be held in Pittsburgh the weekend of Oct. 27.

The Rice vehicle’s hydrogen fuel cell is powered by a reaction of magnesium and hydrochloric acid, said the new team captain and Brown College sophomore Michael Lilierose. “The point of the competition is to put all the reagents into the car and let it go,” he said. Competitors are given parameters an hour before the race to maximize the efficiency of their cars. At the regional, they were instructed to weigh the car down with 500 milliliters of water and were told the distance the cars should travel would be 75 feet.

“Basically, you get two attempts to get close to 75 feet, and whichever car gets closest in either attempt wins,” Lilierose said. The Rice car bested the

competition by traveling 63 feet.

Lilierose said the car’s other important feature is an iodine clock, which serves as the car’s breaking mechanism. The clear chemicals in the iodine clock turn opaque after a calculated period of time and cut the car’s circuit. Jones College junior Adrian Galindo helped the Chem E Car team immensely by designing and producing the car’s circuit, Lilierose said.

Team members Lilierose, Will Rice College junior Erica Tam, Lovett College junior Bianca Bealessio and Jones College freshman Victoria Brooks competed at the regional competition, and the entire Chem E Car team will go to nationals, at which Rice finished 14th last year. While they tweak their current car for the event, the students will also start to build an entirely new car for next year’s regionals, Lilierose said.