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Prov ided/Cornell ChemE Car team

The winning car, Zapdos, on the st arting line.

Prov ided/Cornell ChemE Car team

Students compete at the ChemE car competition. From left: Lauren Taylor '14(hands in air), Brianna DeRooy '14, ChrisTrosin '13, Jennifer Brenner '13 and HannaWon '14 (crouched).

Nov. 14, 2012

ChemE car 'Zapdos' takes first place at nationalsBy Anne Ju

The Cornell ChemE Car team has

done it again. For the third time

since 2008, the student engineering

team won the national American

Institute of Chemical Engineers

ChemE Car competition , Oct. 28 in

Pittsburgh.

The annual competition requires

students to build a chemical-

powered car, about the size of a

sh oebox, that can tra vel between 50

an d 100 feet carryin g a water

payload of up to 500 milliliters. It

must be powered and stopped only

by a chemical reaction -- no commercial batteries and,

certainly, no brakes or other mechanical or electronic

s topping devices.

Th e Cornell car, called Zapdos after a Pokem on character,

bested the competition of more than 30 other schools as

the most accur ate and consistent car -- 0.03 meters off

the target stopping point on its first run, and a perfect stop

on the second run.

Zapdos was powered by a zinc-air battery, which

performed consistently and was relatively easy to make,

according to senior team captain Jennifer Brenner '13. The

team's stopping method was tried-and-true: An iodine

clock reaction, which consists of two solutions that remain

clear for a certain time depending on their concentration.

When the solution turns dark blue, a light sensor opens a

circuit, stopping the car.

The team competed at nationals after placing second at

the Northeast regional competition at University of New

Haven in West Haven, Conn., held in March. There, they

entered two cars: Zoidberg III, powered by batteries, and

Pikachu, powered by hydrogen.

Throughout the year leading up to competition season, the team builds a total of four cars to test

different designs, Brenner said. The students hope to bring Zapdos to the international

competition in South Korea in August 2013. They're also preparing for the next regional

competition, in March 2013, at the University of Massachusetts.

The project team is not only for chemical engineers; students from mechanical, electrical andeven biological engineering have played key roles in the car's success, Brenner noted.

"Working in a team environment, we not only have to explain our ideas to other people, but also

accept ideas from other people," she said.

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STORY CONTACTS

Cornell Chronicle

Anne Ju607- 255-9735amj8@cornell.edu

Media Contact

John Carberry607-255-5353

jjc338@cornell.edu

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She added: "It's nice to have a different way to apply chemical engineering."

The team is advised by Jeffrey Varner, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular

engineering. More information is available online .

http://www.rso.cornell.edu/chemecar/index.htmlhttp://www.news.cornell.edu/about/copyrighthttp://www.news.cornell.edu/content/contact-ushttp://www.news.cornell.edu/about