Trine students participate in 2016 AIChE car competition

2016 Apr 20

Trine Chemical Engineering Students traveled to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for the 2016 AIChE Student North-Central Regional Conference. In addition to attending various seminars and talks, students competed in the Research Poster, Jeopardy, and Chemical Engineering Car competitions. Among those in the car competition was Oanh Nguyen.

For the Chemical Engineering Car contest, students were required to design a remote control sized car that runs and stops using a chemical reaction. The team designed a magnesium-air battery as the power source with an iodine clock reaction used as the stopping mechanism. One hour prior to the competition, the car was given a distance requirement of 19.5 meters and a load requirement of 195 grams. The Trine vehicle stopped one meter away from the target, landing the team in 5th place among 18 teams after two rounds of competition. The top five teams qualified to compete in nationals.