UBC Chem-E-Car

Design, Build and Compete

To design a car that can only be powered by chemical reactions. The process of creating the car involves building a power system (batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors etc), selecting a stopping mechanism reaction, designing the circuitry, coding microcontrollers and assembling the mechanical components and car body.

 chemecar.md

Project

UBC Chem-E-Car is a design team under the UBC Chemical & Biological Engineering Department that competes in the annual AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) Regional and National Chem-E-Car Competitions. The goal of the competition is to build a shoebox sized car that carries a given load of water within a given amount of distance. Chem-E-Car provides the opportunity for UBC engineering students to learn valuable technical and interpersonal skills.

Project Details

2022/2023 Recruitment

Closed for the year! Feel free to contact us via email [email protected] for any inquiries, and follow us on Instagram. <!–Chem-E-Car is excited to recruit applicants from different engineering backgrounds for all sub-teams for the upcoming school year! As a member of the team, you will gain valuable technical and interpersonal skills by working on fun projects that challenge you in new ways beyond the classroom. We highly encourage students with any level of experience to apply. Being on the team means you have plenty of opportunities for peer mentorship and working with team members with various skills!

  • Applications will open on August 22nd - The application link will be on the Chem-E-Car website.
  • To learn more and to connect with us at info sessions, follow us on Instagram.
  • Feel free to contact us via email [email protected] for any inquiries about the team! –> <!– Chem-E-Car is excited to recruit applicants to all sub-teams for the 2021-2022 school year! As a member of the team, you will gain valuable technical and interpersonal skills by working on fun projects that challenge you in new ways beyond the classroom. We highly encourage students with any level of experience to apply. Being on the team means you have plenty of opportunities for peer mentorship and working with team members with various skill sets!

Applications will be open from August 21st to September 12th. To learn more, we will host information sessions on September 8th and 9th, stay tuned for more details! Please feel free to follow us on Instagram or Facebook for recruitment updates, and contact us via email[email protected] if you have any other questions. –>

Subteams

Mechanical Team

Designs and develops the body and other mechanical components of the car. The car is custom built, made of 3D printed components and various other purchased materials; the car and all its parts must fit inside a 40cm x 30cm x 20cm box and be able to carry an extra load of water ranging from 0-500 mL. The design team must incorporate and organize the reactor, power source, microcontrollers and wiring onto the car, as well as ensure its stability and ability to travel in a straight line.

Lab Team

Designs a chemical-based stopping mechanism for the car. The chemical reaction’s rate of completion is used to stop the car motor. The lab teams must design a precise and accurate reaction, calibration curve and equation that will calculate the concentrations or quantity of reagents that will result in the completion of the reaction at the required time

Power Source Team

Builds an energy source (battery, fuel cell, combustion engine) to power the motor, and hence the propulsion of the car. The energy sources must provide a consistent output of energy and be able to be constructed at the day of the competition. It must also be heavily tested in varying conditions to ensure successful operation for competition day.

Circuitry Team

Codes the car to respond to the stopping mechanism and programmes the motor to run the car. Design the sensor system which is responsible for reacting to the changes in the chemical reaction which would eventually stop the car. The sensitivity and exactness of the sensor system impacts how accurately the calibration curve is applied to stop the car as it covers a specified distance.

Our Future

UBC Chem-E-Car will attend the 2021 Pacific Northwest Regional AlChE Chem-E-Car Competition. The team strives to design innovative timing mechanisms and power sources, and a unique car every year. We hope to continue to do this while teaching others about this technology, and growing as a team.

Sponsorship

Check out our sponsorship page here!

Accomplishments / Awards

  • 2022 AIChE Regionals Chem-E-Car Competition (1st Place)
  • 2022 AIChE Regionals Poster Competition (1st Place)
  • 2021 AIChE Nationals Chem-E-Car Competition (Top 5)
  • 2021 AIChE Nationals Poster Competition (1st Runner-up)
  • 2021 AIChE Regionals Chem-E-Car Competition (1st Place)
  • 2021 AIChE Regionals Poster Competition (1st Place)
  • 2019 AIChE Regionals Poster Presentation (1st Runner-up)
  • 2019 AIChE Chem-E-Car Regionals (1st Runner-up)
  • 2019 AIChE Student Paper Competition (1st Runner-up)
  • 2018 AIChE Nationals Poster Presentation (1st place)
  • 2018 AIChE Chem-E-Car Nationals (25th out of 40 teams)
  • 2018 AIChE Chem-E-Car Regionals (1st place)
  • 2018 AIChE Regionals Poster Presentation (1st place)
  • 2017 World Congress Poster Competition (1st place)
  • 2017 World Congress Competition (7th out of 18 teams)

Team Members

Aahnaf Aarub

Aahnaf Aarub
Team Member

Abhay Sirsi

Abhay Sirsi
Team Member

Aidan Mitha

Aidan Mitha
Team Member

Akshi Valji

Akshi Valji
Project Coordinator

Andrea DeMeo

Andrea DeMeo
Team Member

Arshan Mansoor Ali

Arshan Mansoor Ali
Team Member

Atharva Laud

Atharva Laud
Team Member

Bhavya Nagda

Bhavya Nagda
Webmaster & Project Coordinator

Daniel Wang

Daniel Wang
Team Member

Emma Fischer

Emma Fischer
Team Member

Emma Lunau Smith

Emma Lunau Smith
Team Member

Emmanuel Santacruz

Emmanuel Santacruz
Chem-E-Car Co-Lead

Estefano Cortes

Estefano Cortes
Team Member

Fiona Scott

Fiona Scott
Team Member

Harshit Kohli

Harshit Kohli
Chem-E-Car Co-Lead

Karan Dhiman

Karan Dhiman
Team Member

Kushal Patel

Kushal Patel
Team Member

Maria Buse Meral

Maria Buse Meral
Team Member

Meghan Cooke

Meghan Cooke
Chem-E-Car Co-Lead

Nikita Sharma

Nikita Sharma
Team Member

Noor Ali-Mohamad

Noor Ali-Mohamad
Team Member

Ryan Pederson

Ryan Pederson
Team Member

Sharon Au-Yeung

Sharon Au-Yeung
Team Member

Siddhant Sharma

Siddhant Sharma
Team Member

Stephanie Hasjim

Stephanie Hasjim
Team Member

Vaishnav Harne

Vaishnav Harne
Chem-E-Car Captain

Veronika Zenova

Veronika Zenova
President

Wyatt Schnare

Wyatt Schnare
Team Member

Ziyi Fang

Ziyi Fang
Project Coordinator