Miami University’s Chem-E-Car team competes in San Diego
Six Miami University CEC students traveled to San Diego, CA to compete with their Chem-E-Car at the national level.
Miami University’s Chem-E-Car team competes in San Diego
Six Miami University College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) students recently traveled to the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) 2024 National Meeting to compete in the Chem-E-Car Competition. This competition is designed to increase awareness of the chemical engineering discipline among the public, industry leaders, educators, and other students. In their first appearance at the national competition level, Miami University placed 30th out of 51 teams, including 28 domestic and 23 international teams. For the competition, the car must get as close to the finish line as possible, this year the finish line was set at 26.62 meters.
Miami University competed at the regional level last year with a Chem-E-Car built as a senior design project. Because all the students in last year’s team were graduating seniors, for this year the team had to recruit from the ground up. Kyle MacMillan ’25 became the captain of the team this year, with Jonathan Ackley ’25, Emily Reed ’26, Anna Kauffman ’26, Natalie Lang ’28, and Allen Ni ’28 being recruited in the beginning of the year.
Once the team was formed, the next step was to make changes to improve upon the previous year's design. Miami's car operates on hydrogen, which powers its motor. The team produces the hydrogen themselves through a chemical reaction with sulfuric acid and iron and stores it in a container until the car is ready to be used.
“The previous team's design was simple and worked well, so we tried not to change it drastically, said Kyle MacMillan, team captain. “Our main objective was safety. We accomplished this with new parts that fit better, a valve to control hydrogen flow, decreased acid concentration, alongside several other small changes to improve safety and performance. Each change is beneficial, but the cumulative impact of all of them combined is where our team's efforts shine.”
The Chem-E-Car competition gives students the opportunity to apply what they have learned in the classroom to a hands-on learning experience, similar to what will happen in the industry. The team learned ways to properly document their changes and safety standards — using packets that are used in industry — after running extensive testing on their car. This helped give students a preview of what their career could look like post-graduation, and, in MacMillan’s words, “really getting that engineering experience you don't typically get within the classroom.”
The team is currently looking for new members of all CEC backgrounds to expand and grow the team. “The competition is a good hands-on experience outside of class or a lab, and you can get some real-world engineering experience through it,” said team member Jonathan Ackley ‘25. “You are not given a ton of guidelines on how to design the car, so everyone in the club makes and agrees on decisions and you see a lot of different designs from other teams. We communicate on all the decisions, coordinate all the presentations, and work together at competitions.”
Students interested in learning more about the Chem-E-Car Competition or how to join the team can get in touch through the team’s Instagram page.
