ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, GO!
"Will our Chem-e-car make it to the finish line?" was probably the only thought that was constantly buzzing in every participant's mind on the morning of Chem-E-Car Competition 2015. Department of Chemical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) organised the first Chem-E-Car Competition in Bangladesh on May 1, 2015. Teams racing their cars and presenting their projects on posters, judges keenly observing the presentations, and a highly energetic crowd cheering – the overall ambience of the competition was marked by excitement, nervousness and speed.
With the zeal to design a balanced "Chem-e-car" and construct an efficient battery to power the car and take it meters away, chemical engineering students of BUET from all academic years participated in the competition. "It is a very busy time for the students, since the semester is almost coming to an end. In spite of the quizzes and lab experiments, surprisingly there are over one hundred participants at this year's competition," shared Nazib and Anika, final year chemical engineering students and members of the organising team of Chem-E-Car 2015.
Participating teams were challenged with designing a car and constructing an electrochemical cell or battery to power the car for specified dimensions, distance and capacity. "Few days prior to the competition, each team was provided with the necessary specifications and accessories that they had to use to construct the cells," said Nuzhat and Mahbub, final year chemical engineering students and members of the organising team. The competition was sponsored by Olympic Industries Ltd.; they also provided the accessories and ingredients for the cells, the organisers added.
The competition comprised of two segments – car race and poster presentation. On the morning of the competition, teams raced their Chem-e-cars through a distance of 30 meters in the shortest possible time, carrying a load of 400 ml of water. In the other half of the competition, teams highlighted the design objectives and features of their cars and also described the mechanism of the constructed cells through poster presentations. Teams were judged on the performance and efficiency of the constructed cells, as well as speed, design and safety factor of the Chem-e-cars.
Every Chem-e-car had unique features that set it apart from the rest. While some teams constructed cars using simple materials like food containers, toy-car wheels and motors, others constructed fancy ones inspired by the Batmobile. One of the challenges that teams faced during the competition was maintenance of balance and power.
When asked what motivated them to participate in Chem-E-Car Competition 2015, the all-girl team members Sabrina and Farrhin, third year students, shared, "Academic competitions like undergraduate thesis and design competition, poster presentations, business case competitions and many more are regularly organised in the department. For the first time, we are having a competition like Chem-E-Car in the Department of Chemical Engineering, which is rather technical."
Regarding the competition, Dr. Mohidus Samad Khan, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, BUET and convenor of Chem-E-Car Competition 2015 said, "Chem-E-Car competitions are annually organised for Chemical Engineering students in universities and professional organisations all over the world. Such competitions are an opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience and realise the concept of engineering. We envision taking BUET Chem-E-Car Competition to a national and further to an international level in the near future."
While some cars made it to the finish line and some stopped halfway, the Chem-E-Car Competition 2015 came to a speedy end with the announcement of this year's champions, and of course group selfies.
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