In its second year as a program, the UNA Engineering Technology Chem-E-Car team placed third in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers 19th Annual competition.

This was an international competition in Minneapolis with teams from Greece, Hong Kong, India, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and Colombia.

UNA’s Director and Department Chair for Engineering Technology Peter Rim said he is proud of this victory for his team since this is the team’s first year competing in the Chem-E-Car competition.

“We knew, due to extensive practice sessions, the team was prepared to do well,” Rim said. “However, to maintain the poise and success the team demonstrated when matched against leading engineering schools like Cornell, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Maryland, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech, was remarkable”

The team qualified for the national competition April 1 after ranking fourth out of 16 teams representing various universities from across the southern U.S. at a competition at the University of Tennessee.

The competition engages students by having them design and construct chemical energy powered car. The car has to carry a specific amount of weight over a given distance and stop accurately, according to aiche.org.

The vehicle must use a chemical reaction to start and stop at a given distance. The teams are given the distance the vehicle must travel while carrying a certain amount of water minutes before the competition begins.

The purpose of this competition is to highlight chemical engineers and the role they will play in discovering alternative fuel options.

UNA is currently in the process of adding a Chemical Engineering Technology program through a grant.

Stick with The Flor-Ala for more updates on this program.