Chemically-powered car the size of a shoebox a winning design for UCalgary student team

The University of Calgary’s Chem-E-Car team, Team pHirst, pulled off a win at the 2024 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Pacific Northwest Regional Student Conference in late April at the University of Idaho. 

The win qualifies the Schulich School of Engineering team for the Chem-E-Car competition nationals this October in San Diego. UCalgary is set to host the regionals in the spring of 2025.

In Chem-E-Car competitions, students construct a small car about the size of a shoebox that runs on a chemical reaction. The cars must be able to travel and stop precisely at a random distance given to participants on the day of the contest. The car also cannot produce any gases or emissions, thus promoting innovation in eco-friendly power.

Team pHrist’s Chem-E-Car is 3D-printed and the reaction that propels the car comes from an aluminum air battery. The stopping mechanism is a colour sensor that detects the change in the colour of the chemical reaction and activates braking.

Team pHirst captain Vedant Parekh is a fifth-year mechanical engineering student with a minor in mechatronics. He says to win a competition in only the team’s third year was a wonderful feeling. 

“It did feel amazing, especially because we don't really get that many resources,” Parekh says. “It was just the four or five of us who were struggling with everything and trying to put two and two together. So, yeah, initially it was really frightening and nerve-racking but, at the end of the day when we won the competition, that it was an amazing feeling.” 

Chandhini Ramu, the team’s stopping mechanism lead and Calgary president for AIChE, says her work with them has given her a more-broad experience in many different types of engineering. 

“Because it's a really small team, we all kind of collaborate all the time,” says the fifth-year chemical engineering student. “So, even though I'm the stopping mechanism lead who specifically works on how the car stops automatically, I've been able to gain knowledge on electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and a lot of teamwork skills.”  

This fall’s nationals will provide an opportunity for the Chem-E-Car team to showcase its innovation and technical excellence, says Dr. Nashaat Nassar, PhD’08, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering and the group’s faculty advisor.

“I’d like to showcase our innovation and technical excellence,” says Nassar. “We need to tell the world that here we have a very good school of engineering here at the University of Calgary that can advance design the final prototypes and compete at different levels.”  

The Chem-E-Car team is currently fundraising and seeking industry sponsors to help with competition costs. If you would be interested in sponsoring the team, please contact Chandhini Ramu (chandhini.ramu@ucalgary.ca) or Vedant Parekh (vedant.parekh@ucalgary.ca).