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Clarkson Chem-E-Car SPEED Team takes 1st in Regional Competition

Potsdam, NY (05/11/2018) — The Clarkson University Chem-E-Car (Chemical Engineering) SPEED (Student Projects for Engineering Experience & Design) Team attended the 2018 AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) Eckhardt Northeast Regional Student Conference in April hosted by R.I.T and the University of Rochester and finished in 1st place. The team now qualifies for the AIChE National Chem-E-Car Competition in Pittsburgh, PA in October. The national competition consists of the winners of the Western, Mid-America, Pacific Northwest and Northeast regions. This is Clarkson's best finish in this event in the team's history.

The objective of Chem-E Car is to design and build a shoebox-sized car that is powered and stopped by chemical reactions. Throughout the year students from various disciplines collaborate to prepare a car that can: 1) carry a maximum load of 500 grams and 2) travel any distance between 15 and 30 meters. The weight of the payload and the distance are randomly chosen one hour before the start of the competition. The goal is to stop exactly at the randomly chosen distance. The teams have 2 runs to get as close to the line as possible. Careful testing and calibration are key to landing directly on the mark.

The Clarkson car was powered by a custom student-built lead-acid battery which contained six lead-acid cells in series. The car is stopped using an iodine "clock" reaction where a clear solution turns black over the course of about 70 seconds. The team designed electrical circuits to analyze this reaction and then stop the car. At the competition, the goal was to reach and stop at a distance of 19.3 meters while carrying a load of 190 grams. Clarkson placed first in a field of 21 teams, stopping at a distance of 19.44 meters; only 14 centimeters long of the goal.

Students on the team include Ethan Hoefler of Rochester, NY, Rachel Adams of Endicott, NY, Justin Arendt of North Conway, NH, Jesse Rieman of Amherst, NY, Hassan Mukoma of Syracuse, NY, Noah Healey of Canton, MA, Megan Carhart of Glenmont, NY, Patrick O'Rourke of Hyde Park, NY, Aneeq Manzoor of Halfmoon, NY, and Alfred Worrad of Highland, NY.

Clarkson University educates the leaders of the global economy. One in five alumni already leads as an owner, CEO, VP or equivalent senior executive of a company. With its main campus located in Potsdam, N.Y., and additional graduate program and research facilities in the Capital Region and Beacon, New York, Clarkson is a nationally recognized research university with signature areas of academic excellence and research directed toward the world's pressing issues. Through more than 50 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, arts, education, sciences and the health professions, the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations, and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo and connect discovery and innovation with enterprise.