It鈥檚 the size of a toy, but 91制片厂在线观看 of Louisiana at Lafayette students鈥 chemically powered car isn鈥檛 designed for child鈥檚 play.
The custom-made auto could fit in a shoebox, all right, but rolls on the strength of a lead acid battery. It stops via an 鈥渋odine clock鈥 reaction detected with optical sensors.
It鈥檚 a Chem-E-Car, built by UL Lafayette chemical engineering majors, and it could go up in a poof of smoke at any second. Instead, it leaves most similarly styled cars sputtering in its dust.
The UL Lafayette team鈥檚 car placed sixth in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers competition recently in Pittsburgh, besting a 35-college field that included Ivy League and international schools. Cornell 91制片厂在线观看 took top honors, followed by the 91制片厂在线观看 of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, Oklahoma State 91制片厂在线观看, the 91制片厂在线观看 of Pittsburgh, the 91制片厂在线观看 of Houston and UL Lafayette.
Dr. William Chirdon, the UL Lafayette assistant professor of chemical engineering and the team鈥檚 adviser, said the event isn鈥檛 really a 鈥渞ace鈥 at all but 鈥渁 competition as to which team is the best at modeling chemical reactions and their vehicle鈥檚 performance.鈥
Chem-E-Cars must travel a set distance while hauling a payload of water. The course distance and cargo amount aren鈥檛 disclosed until one hour before competition. Students must tabulate the calculations needed to give the car some giddy-up-and-go and stop it as close to the finish line as they can without a remote control or timed braking mechanism. The whole deal has to unfold in under two minutes. 鈥淪o distance travel has to be controlled by chemical reaction kinetics,鈥 Chirdon said.
In logging its strong showing, the UL Lafayette team flexed more than intellectual muscle. Students are also tasked with standing up to the pressure of passing face-to-face interviews and meeting the requirements of rigorous inspections. 鈥淭he safety rules alone are 16 pages,鈥 Chirdon said, adding the UL Lafayette team also overcame adversity. The airline lost a poster mandatory for a safety evaluation, and luggage handlers damaged the car鈥檚 circuit board, designed by a student who had graduated in the spring. 鈥淪o, upon arrival, the team had to reconstruct the poster, teach themselves the fundamentals of circuits online, and then proceed to repair the circuit board,鈥 he said.
UL Lafayette鈥檚 Chem-E-Car was also constructed economically. While some entries cost nearly $2,000, UL Lafayette鈥檚 vehicle was built with about $75 in materials.
鈥淭here is certainly a lot of pride in finishing sixth in this prestigious national competition,鈥 Chirdon said.
Student members of the Chem-E-Car team include: Forest Kidder (captain), Gabby Anderson, Timothy Boudreaux, Cassie Drexel, Brandon Plaisance and Eric Regel. Team members Aaron Brocksmith and Marshall McDaniel were unable to attend the conference. Seniors who worked on the car in the spring include: Caleb Breaux, Trey Romero, Jordy Mitchell and Dru Vitale, an electrical engineering student.
After several years of regional competition, this semester marks the first time UL Lafayette has reached the national competition, part of the AIChE鈥檚 Annual Student Conference. The team competed in the Southern Regional AIChE Student Conference earlier this semester in Clemson, S. C.
鈥淓ach year, our performance in regionals improved until the spring of 2012, when we qualified for the national competition,鈥 Chirdon said.
Photo: From left, front, Timothy Boudreaux, Gabby Anderson, Forrest Kidder, Eric Regel, Cassi Drexel and Dr. William Chirdon;back, Aaron Brocksmith, Brandon Plaisance.