Photos by Rensselaer/Kris Qua

More than 100 engineering students from across the Northeast came to Rensselaer March 31-April 1 for the 2006 Northeast Regional Student Conference of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). The conference, which was organized and run by Rensselaer undergraduate students, was a major regional event that featured student research presentations, workshops, a career fair, and the Chem-E-Car Competition — an event that challenged teams to design and build shoebox-sized cars powered by chemical energy sources.

Designed to test the students’ ability to control a chemical reaction, the contest required that each team build a chemically powered car that could carry a load over a specified distance, with no remote controls and no braking system. Teams were told the amount of the load just prior to their race, and then they had to adjust the chemical reactants to a level that would carry the car the full distance to the finish line, without going beyond. 

Five teams ran cars in the competition on Saturday, April 1, and the winning team came from the University of Maine. In addition to a cash prize, they also won the opportunity to compete at the National Chem-E-Car Competition, which will be held during the 2006 Annual Meeting of the AIChE, Nov. 12-17 in San Francisco, Calif. 

“The student conference planning committee did a very nice job of organizing this conference, which has not been held at Rensselaer since 1991,” said B. Wayne Bequette, professor of chemical and biological engineering and adviser to the Rensselaer AIChE chapter. “It was an excellent opportunity for our students to showcase activities on our campus, and to learn about projects at other schools. Students also were able to interact with the many professional engineers that volunteered their time to judge the paper and poster presentations, and the Chem-E-Car competition.”

For more information, visit the conference Web site: http://www.rpi.edu/dept/chem-eng/WWW/AICHE/regionals/

Published April 3, 2006