ChemE Car Competition

Volunteers needed for the safety and poster competition!  I’m not sure how many of you were involved with AIChE during undergrad, but one of the most exciting events to go during the year is the Spring AIChE Regional Conference. This is a conference that rotates being hosted at schools in an AIChE designated region each year, with bids being decided years in advance. At the conference students are able to get to know other engineers from neighboring schools, compete in chemical engineering jeopardy, learn about a wide variety of topics in the workshops, show off their research in poster competitions, and of course compete in the chemical engineering car competition!  The ChemE car competition is set up so schools have to design and build a box car sized car that is powered by a chemical reaction and then moves a set distance with a set amount of weight that is determined a couple hours before the competition. In addition to knowing your chemical reaction and stopping mechanism, the surface that the car must go on also changes from competition to competition. There have been some ChemE car competitions that have happened on gym floors and others on tennis courts. Sometimes the differences between teams getting the closest to the line are 1/16th of an inch, so friction loses also must be understood! During the competition, a few members are sent to the start line to set off the car, while the rest of the team and school watches on the sidelines in anticipation to how close it is going to get to the line. It is a competition that brings tears of both joy and sadness to teams. Many teams, especially the Puerto Rican team, are well known for bringing drums to cheer on the car and team. The top few teams for the competition will be sent to Pittsburg to compete at the 2018 Annual AIChE Conference.   This year, LSU will be hosting the Spring AIChE Southern Regional Conference April 6th-7th. They are looking for volunteers for the chemical engineering car competition. There is a poster component as well as a safety check before the actual cars are launched that all need volunteers to help with. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Donna Bryant by March 30th.