(61f) A Chemical Engineering Competition for Middle and High School Students

There are engineering competitions hosted around the country by groups of engineering societies, but these competitions rarely include a chemical engineering event. This lack is a missed chance at interesting students in careers in chemical engineering. The authors have developed and implemented a chemical engineering competition for middle and high school students. This contest is inspired by the chemical stop switches used by many teams in AIChE's Chem-E-Car Competition.

The Chemical Switch Competition was introduced at the Tulsa Engineering Challenge this spring. The goal of the competition is to use a chemical reaction to break an electrical circuit 20 seconds after setup. Breaking the circuit before 20 seconds disqualifies the run. The electrical circuit contains an LED that turns off when the circuit is broken, providing a visual cue. Students attach their equipment to the circuit with alligator clips, and power for the LED is provided by a 9-volt battery. Entries that don't break the circuit within 5 minutes are given a second chance. Ties are broken by the judges determining which team had the most fun during the competition. Prizes this year were $50, $30, and $20 for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, respectively, with middle school and high school students competing in separate divisions. The Tulsa local section of AIChE provided the prize money. Because it was the first year for students to see this event, materials were also supplied for students to create a variety of stop switches as a demonstration. Students that participated in the demonstration were not eligible for the prize money.

This competition is a simple way for students that are being introduced to chemistry to extend those lessons to engineering. It requires the students to develop a way of using a chemical reaction to break a circuit, to choose an appropriate chemical reaction, and time the reaction's functioning. Very few engineering fairs include these chemical aspects in their competitions, and it is hoped that other locales will introduce this or a similar competition to their engineering fairs. Visit www.tulsaengineer.org for information on the Tulsa Engineering Challenge and the 2005 rules for the Chemical Switch Competition.