Texas A&M students shine at the Chem E-Car competition at the AIChE conference
Published Nov 20, 2022
Texas A&M University at Qatar students competed in the Chem E-Car competition at the annual American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) conference recently held in Arizona (USA).
The student team comprised Amna Cassim, Amanda Cruz, Wellage de Silva, Rehaan Hussain and Syed Ahmad, and they were supervised by chapter adviser Dr. Ghada Salama
The Chem-E-Car Competition aims to increase awareness of the chemical engineering discipline among the public, industry leaders, educators, and other students.
Over the summer and fall semesters, the team worked hard to develop and build a car that runs and stops solely based on chemical reactions. Named the Aggiecelerator, a playful pun on being Aggies, the car is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.
However, the night before the competition, teams were informed that due to unforeseen circumstances all chemicals they had requested to be shipped and needed to run their cars had not arrived. It forced the team to improvise and think quickly on their feet. As a result of the missing chemicals, the team had to experiment with different agents on the day of the competition to generate enough hydrogen to power the car, which is powered by a fuel cell, while simultaneously limiting the hydrogen produced so that the car could stop after a required criteria given the day of the competition — a distance of 22 meters under two minutes.
Nevertheless, the team calmly navigated the circumstances and worked cohesively to come up with a solution that allowed the Aggiecelarator to accelerate to the finish line. Their car was able to stop at 19 meters, just three meters away from the desired finish line.
Congratulating the team, Salama said, “We are proud of how our students adapted to the sudden changes, and were able to think on their feet and come up with solutions. They did not allow the challenges to bog them down, and stayed focused to the task at hand: of competing the Aggiecelator. These students have showcased the true Aggie Spirit with their resilience and commitment.”