This spring, the UBC Chem-E-Car team Co-Captains hosted the 2021 Pacific Northwest Regional AIChE Conference virtually! The conference consisted of an industry panel, jeopardy competition, lab tour, research presentations and competitions, and of course, the Regional Chem-E-Car Competition itself. With only one month to build and test the Chem-E-Car due to in-person restrictions, the team managed to build a winning car!
Since September, the UBC Chem-E-Car team has been working hard on technical reports, CAD modelling, posters and circuitry practice. However, in late March, the team received the good news of being able to compete. For the 2021 competition on May 1st, they built the Van Diesel car, equipped with a vitamin C iodine clock stopping mechanism and zinc-air battery.
On competition day, with the goal of reaching a 17m distance, Van Diesel reached 20m, the closest of all competitors! Even broadcasting on zoom, this was quite an exciting moment for the team, since they now qualify for the National Chem-E-Car Competition this fall in Boston.
In addition, the Van Diesel poster won 1st place for the Poster Competition, and a second poster from UBC, Lightning McCHBE, came close in 3rd place! The Lightning McCHBE poster represented a theoretical car, which has yet to be built due to the Covid-19 restrictions this year. Congratulations to the UBC Chem-E-Car team!
