What is Chem-E-Car?
Chem-E-Car is a student led project team with the goal of designing and constructing a car that is fueled by and stopped by chemical reactions. During competition day, a distance and payload is given by which the car must be able to start, move, and stop at the given distance without any outside assistance. Regional and annual competitions are held at corresponding regional and national AIChE Student Conferences and provide students an opportunity to apply chemical engineering knowledge in a team-oriented project environment.
Meet the Team
The Stony Brook University Chem-E-Car team is a group of undergraduate students participating in the design of the car, most of whom are chemical engineering students.
Pictured to the left is the main Chem-E-Car team. From left to right: Kumpu Ide, Reid Maggio, Hannah Karkout, Eeman Jawad (co-captain), Jae-Won Bryan Seo (co-captain), Mary Calandra, and Stefanos Nitodas (Team Advisor).
Nationals 2023
The Stony Brook University Chem-E-Car team placed in the top 20 in the AIChE National Chem-E-Car Competition in November 2023.
Pictured to the left is the ChemE Car team. From left to right: Reid Maggio, Hannah Karkout, Eeman Jawad (co-captain), Jae-Won Bryan Seo (co-captain), Mary Calandra, and Kumpu Ide.
Nationals 2021
The Stony Brook University Chem-E-Car team won 13th place in the AIChE National Chem-E-Car Competition in November 2021.
Pictured to the left is the ChemE Car team.
From left to right: Joshua Heuvel-Horwitz, Stephen Galvin (Co-captain), John Calderon (Co-captain), Bryan Seo, and Eeman Jawad.
Below are some pictures from the competition floor in Boston!
Regionals 2021
The Stony Brook University Chem-E-Car team won 3rd place in the AIChE Mid-Atlantic Competition in April 2021.
Pictured to the left is the ChemE Car team.
From left to right: Eeman Jawad, Taejin Kim (Team Supervisor), Isaac Kim (previous Co-captain), Joshua Heuvel-Horwitz, Bryan Seo, John Calderon (Co-captain), Steve Nitodas (Team Advisor), and Stephen Galvin.
Our Car
"6G"
Propulsion: Mg-Air Battery
Our car uses a Mg-air battery as the main power source with a total of eight individual cells wired in series. Each cell consists of a 3" x 2" cutout of AZ31 Magnesium alloy wrapped in filter paper and placed alongside a same sized cutout of Pt/C paper. Cells are soaked in concentrated NaCl electrolyte solution to activate the battery during car operation.
Stopping Reaction: Luminol Chemiluminescence
The distance the car travels is controlled using a luminol chemiluminescence reaction involving a main aqueous solution of luminol and an activating solution involving an oxidizing reactant that is injected into the reaction tower to start the car. The length of the light emission from the reaction above a certain light level governs the distance traveled and is controlled by altering the concentration of the oxidizing reactant in the activating solution.
Control Circuits and Programming
Our car uses an Arduino breadboard to control the circuit between our battery and the car’s motor. A photoresistor is connected to the Arduino breadboard, which measures the amount of light emitted from the Luminol reaction. Our Luminol reaction takes place in front of the photoresistor and when the reaction is complete, no more light will be emitted to the photoresistor The Arduino breadboard is programmed to close or open a MOSFET to stop or start the motor of the car when the light reading of the photoresistor rises above or falls below a preset threshold.
