Join the ChemE Car Team today!
To all engineers,
The regional chemical car competition is coming up on April 4th in our own backyard! We will need your help to make our car ready for this amazing event. We encourage students to come and help out, regardless of background or experience. It will be a great chance to get to know people from the same major and see a real application of chemical engineering principles.
Mandatory EH&S Safety Training
You must sign up for this mandatory safety orientation at http://safetyapps.ucdavis.edu/EHS/Training/index.cfm#chemsafety
ChemE Car Team Descriptions:
Reaction Team
Designs the reaction that powers our car
This year, we are using a battery driven car. The reaction team will be tasked with maximizing voltage and current output while still considering space limitations on the car. You will have to decide what electrodes and electrolytes to use, how to configure the cells, how to store the cells, how to connect them, etc.
Chassis Team
Responsible for the physical construction and layout of the car
The chassis team is in charge of designing the physical body of the car, including the actual base, the wheels and motors. After construction, the main task will be to ensure that the car continues to move straight while other components are being added to the car. You will also need to figure out the best way to layout the battery, the stopping mechanism and the load on the available chassis space.
Stopping Mechanism Team
Responsible for making the car stop
While the reaction team is responsible for making the car move, the stopping mechanism has to make it stop. The stopping mechanism that is being used this year is the iodine clock reaction, which is a timed reaction that causes a clear solution to turn black. This color change will interrupt the path of a beam of light to a sensor and cause the power to be diverted from the motors elsewhere, causing the car to stop. You will need to build the light/sensor mechanism, and also figure out how to control the clock reaction.
The objectives of this competition are:
* To provide chemical engineering students with the opportunity to participate in a team-oriented hands-on design and construction of a small chemical powered model car.
* To design and construct a car that is powered with a chemical energy source that will carry a specified load over a given distance and stop.
* To encourage students to become actively involved in their professional society - AIChE.
* To increase awareness of the chemical engineering discipline among the general public, industry leaders, educators and other students.
