Biofuels/Internal Combustion Engine

PROJECT LEADS: Winston Ou & Ben Han
TEAM: Tasneem Khan, Alvin Ma, Ileana Gonzalez, Michelle Zhao, Chase Capanna, Andrea Chen

We ferment ethanol and convert oil to biodiesel using KOH and methanol. The ethanol and biodiesel are combined to power an internal combustion engine.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell

PROJECT LEADS: Daniel Seyedebrahimi & Vishnu Dharmaraj
TEAM: Derrick Cheng, Vedant Vaidya, Natasha Lethaby, Carolina Gutierrez, Samira Sriram, Carl Atik

Our experimental team will focus on the efficient synthesis and storage of hydrogen fuel through electrolysis and acid-based reactions as well as the optimization of PEM fuel cells to power a car.

Lead-Acid Battery

PROJECT LEADS: Ethan Woodbury & Ronald Kam
TEAM: Alex Cardia, Divyaa Mailvaganam, James Marquez, Jack Smith, Ian Yu

Lead acid batteries are commonly used in cars and backup battery systems, and are the oldest rechargeable battery technology. We are a new team, looking to bring this technology into ChemE Car. Our goal for the year is to build safe and reliable lead acid cells capable of propelling the car.

Magnesium-Air Battery

PROJECT LEAD: Brian Law
TEAM: Irene Kim, Sachin Murthy, Billy Wang, Daniel Gribble, Matthew Pham, Jesus Aguilar

We are currently researching and testing ways in which we can improve and optimize our magnesium-air battery design. From the previous year, we have tested different electrolyte solutions, cathode materials, and anode materials. This year, we hope to expand on our previous results and to figure out new methods of optimization.

Thermoelectric

PROJECT LEAD: Jacob Zamojc
TEAM: Spencer Valenti, Mickey Vande Voorde, Jadallah Zouabe, Yousif Alhammadi, Ashutosh Bhadouria, Kevin Kim, Rohit Rungta

Our power system uses Thermoelectric generators which produce a voltage when a temperature gradient is created between the generators. Our goal for the year is to optimize the minutiae of our design, to get it on a car, and to get it in tip top shape for competition.

Zinc-Air Battery

PROJECT LEAD: Parth Patel
TEAM: Emmy Yu, Alex Yao, Nick Bourlier, QiWen Li, Meagan Macavinta, Monica Wang

The components of the battery include a zinc anode, a carbon-based cathode that captures oxygen from air, and KOH electrolyte. Our main goal for this year is to perfect our battery design process.

Zinc-Carbon Battery

PROJECT LEAD: Richard Sim
TEAM: Thuy Nguyen, Philip Tu, Clay Tsay, Declan Mahaffey-Dowd, Ryan Chao, Vibha Deshiikan

The zinc-carbon team is investigating a cheap alternative energy source for the car. Current project interests and directions are: mitigating corrosion of Zinc, electrode processing, separator/cell engineering and rate capabilities. We will be looking at different Zinc-Carbon battery formulations such as LeClanche and Zinc Chloride for the most optimal performance. If you have any questions about the projects, feel free to reach out to any of our members.

Chemiluminesence Clock

PROJECT LEAD: Samuel Ng
TEAM: Hunter Weaver, Srikant Sagireddy, Richard Law, Pino Gei, Giabao Tonthat

The chemiluminescence clock team uses bleach to oxidize luminol, which releases blue light as the reaction progresses. The light will be detected by a photosensor, and the car will stop once the reaction ends. Our goal is to experiment with different reaction conditions to maximize the time of detectable light and to generate reliable calibration curves.

Enzymatic Clock

PROJECT LEAD: Kevin Xu
TEAM: Andy Lau, Geoffrey Embry, Grace Li, Mingqi Wang, Wudy Yang

The enzymatic clock reaction is controlled by decomposition of hydrogen peroxide through extracted catalase from spinach. Gas formation from the decomposition pushes a dye solution up a rubber tubing until it blocks light from the photosensor, acting as a switch to stop the car. Our goal for this year is to perfect the clock apparatus, generate a very precise calibration, and try something new!

Experimental Control

PROJECT LEAD: Sean Park
TEAM: Amanda Li, Keisha Anastasia, Purvaansh Lohiya, Vincent Le, Scott Park

Develop a potential ChemE Car clock using sodium alginate and calcium chloride reaction. Goal is to get a fine calibration curve to control the reaction time.

PROJECT LEAD: Stephan Kaminsky

The electrical team devises ways of converting the chemical clocks teams data into voltages so that we can determine if the car should be on or off. We also turn on and of the power to the motor from the battery. Also we are trying to devise methods to help increase data collection for the different battery teams by figuring out ways to measure voltage and current from the batteries plus measure the time it takes to go a certain distance in hopes to calculate a more accurate velocity.

PROJECT LEAD: Lance Moll

Our team focuses on creating a chassis for the chemical teams to use and test for competition. This year we're planning on creating two more competition chassis, as well as two for research and development for various testing purposes. We utilize CAD software, to create models for the chassis as well as containment units for the chemical teams. We also use tools such as laser cutters and 3D printers to fabricate the chassis and various parts for the chassis. We're currently finishing up the two competition chassis and working on fabricating new containment units for the chemical teams.