Eight Armour College of Engineering students earned third place in the 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Chem-E-Car Competition that was held during the AIChE North Central Regional Conference at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Team leader and project coordinator Bader Jarai (ChE, 3rd year) put together the group including Xingrui Zhu (ChE, 3rd year), Kashif Uddin (ChE, 4th year), Adam Bartecki (ChE, 2nd year), David Cook (ChE, 4th Year), Sung Min Choi Hong (ChE, 4th year), Vi Tran (ChE, 3rd year) and Fabian Reynoso (ChE, 5th year). Nader Aderangi, senior lecturer of chemical engineering and director of the Undergraduate Laboratory, served as the team’s faculty mentor and provided the lab space where the car was built and tested.

The object of the competition was to build a car that is powered by chemical energy that will carry a specific load over a given distance and then stop utilizing another chemical reaction. Teams are judged by their car traveling the correct distance and for creativity. Teams are also required to participate in a judged poster competition where they outline the specifics of their car’s design.

The Illinois Institute of Technology team created a car that was powered by a zinc-air battery and was stopped by a iodine clock reaction. Their third place win earned them a spot at the national competition that will be held at the AIChE National Conference from Sunday, November 8 through Friday, November 13, in Salt Lake City, Utah.