CU Chem-E-Car Team Sweeps Competitions
The CU Chem-E-Car team was the double winner of this year鈥檚 Chem-E-Car Competition and Chem-E-Car Poster Competition.
Their car, the Turbo Buffalizer 6000 Remix, utilized an aluminum-oxygen battery to travel the 56 ft to the finish line. A separate iodine clock stopped the car just 1.5 inches from the finish line.
The Chem-E-Car Competition involves designing and constructing a car that is powered with a chemical energy source that will carry a specified water load over a given distance and then stop; mechanical or electronic timing devices are not allowed. The host school picks an exact distance somewhere between 15-30 m and a load between 0-500 ml and shares the distance and weight with participants one hour prior to the competition. Teams must then recalibrate their reactants so cars travel that exact distance with the given load.
A team鈥檚 understanding of their power source, stopping mechanism and safety features are put to the test in the Poster Competition. Here, judges have an hour to gauge general understanding, creativity, and presentation skills.
CU鈥檚 team was led by junior Neil Hendren and included juniors Aidan Delgado, Cole Heggem and Charles Mullins; sophomores Andres Gandara and Jason Christianson; freshmen Elijah Holland, Katie Oswalt, Dixa Gautam, Tyler Gossett, Brandon Ho and Maddie Sitton. ChBE Safety Coordinator Ann Greco also volunteered countless hours to ensure the team worked safely.
鈥淲e have a young team which is really exciting for the coming years,鈥 says Hendren. 鈥淏ecause CU had no car last year, we didn鈥檛 really have any experience from which to pull. However, everyone was motivated and so we spent a lot of late nights figuring out the safest and most reliable battery materials.鈥
Two years ago at the 2013 Regional Conference, CU brought two cars; the team took home the Most Creative award for their biodiesel car and second place in the poster competition for their battery car. However, they did not bring a car to last year鈥檚 competition, making this year鈥檚 wins all the more exciting.
CU鈥檚 Chem-E-Car team is now gearing up for the national competition this coming November in Salt Lake City. Along with improving their calibration schemes, they are putting together a video for the national video competition.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 wait to compete at nationals,鈥 says Hendren. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been working since regionals to make the car better than ever.鈥
If you are interested in participating on the Chem-E-Car Team, please email听wendy.young@colorado.edu.