Competition
2026-2027

UCI Chem-E-Car

UCI Chem-E-Car

Summary

UCI’s Chem-E-Car team is a competition team that participates in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ (AIChE) Western Regional Conference (WRC) each year in late April.

Chem-E-Car is itself an annual competition hosted by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) where teams research, design, and fabricate an autonomous, shoebox-sized car powered and stopped by chemical reactions. Each car must travel a distance announced shortly before competition and stop as close to that distance as possible. Our team competes with two cars, each using a starting system to propel the vehicle and a stopping system to bring it to a stop. The cars also rely on mechanical and electrical systems to safely house the reactions, power the vehicle, and autonomously control its operation. This makes Chem-E-Car an interdisciplinary project where students must combine concepts from chemistry, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering into one functioning system.

Competition day is an extreme test of precision and control. One hour before a competition, teams are given an exact target distance (15–30 meters). Mechanical brakes are strictly prohibited; the cars must travel and stop precisely at the finish line using calibrated chemical kinetics, embedded microcontroller circuitry and custom chassis fabrication.

Program Highlights:

3× Regional Champions (2016, 2021, 2024) • 1× World Runner-Up (2017) 

  • 2026: AIChE Western Regional — 6th & 7th Place

  • 2025: Technical R&D — Built custom onboard Hydrogen Fuel Cell system

  • 2024: AIChE Western Regional (Berkeley) — 1st Place

  • 2021: AIChE Western Regional (UCI) — 1st & 2nd Place Sweep

  • 2017: AIChE Annual Student Conference — 2nd Place Worldwide

  • 2016: AIChE Western Regional — 1st Place

Current Work / Recent Updates

Our target for 2026–2027 is a top-three finish at the AIChE Western Regional Competition to advance to the National stage, improving upon our 6th- and 7th-place dual-car finish last season.

This year's technical focus centers on two key areas:

  • Power Generation & Storage: Utilizing thermoelectric generators (TEGs) paired with custom electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) for efficient, repeatable energy conversion and discharge.

  • Precision Stopping Systems: Developing an ethyl acetate saponification reaction to govern stopping via electrical conductivity thresholds, as well as an oscillating Briggs-Rauscher reaction monitored by phototransistors for precise color-switch timing.

Team Structure

1. Chemical Starting Team

  • Primary Role: Energy conversion & vehicle propulsion.

  • Core Responsibilities:

    • Research, characterize, and optimize chemical power mechanisms (e.g., fuel cells, electrochemical systems, or thermoelectric generators) to drive onboard electric motors.

    • Scale and deliver sufficient electrical output to propel the vehicle across distances varying from 15 to 30 meters.

    • Conduct benchtop reaction testing and continuous efficiency optimization.

  • Who Should Join: Chemical engineers, materials scientists, and chemists interested in electrochemistry, reaction kinetics, and energy conversion.

2. Chemical Stopping Team

  • Primary Role: Autonomous precision timing & reaction kinetics.

  • Core Responsibilities:

    • Develop, characterize, and calibrate timed chemical reactions (e.g., optical color transitions, conductivity decay).

    • Construct empirical calibration curves (reaction time vs. reagent concentration) to dynamically calculate competition loads.

    • Design containment reaction chambers to ensure high repeatability and seamless sensor interfacing.

  • Who Should Join: Students interested in analytical chemistry, reaction engineering, mathematical

3. Mechanical Team

  • Primary Role: CAD Design and Static Safety Design.

  • Core Responsibilities:

    • Optimizing Chassis layout and drive systems in CAD to reduce vehicle weight, optimization mechanical performance, and housing new chemical reaction vessels securely.

    • Engineering thermal interfacing mounts to maximize thermoelectric generator heat transfer for greater power generation.

  • Who Should Join: Students interested in applying their mechanical design skills in a chemical environment.

4. Electrical Team

  • Primary Role: Subsystem integration, coding, circuit design.

  • Core Responsibilities:

    • Designing a custom PCB to incorporate all electrical subsystems into one onboard computer.

    • Creating a process control algorithm that precisely stops the vehicle within the designated distance.

    • Troubleshoot and test performance of electrical components.

  • Who Should Join: Students interested in how process controls can be applied in chemical reactors on a pilot scale.

5. Operations and Communications Team

  • Primary Role: Supporting tasks and technical member.

  • Core Responsibilities:

    • Maintain records, take pictures, and ensure project engagement on social media and on campus.

    • Take part in technical hours to build engineering skills.

    • Assist with fundraising, organizing events, and socials to improve the member experience.

  • Who Should Join: Students interested in learning more about how a project is run while trying different subteams.