In pursuit of a true multidisciplinary, hands-on experience, undergraduate chemical engineering students founded the University of Toronto Chemical Vehicles Design Team (formerly ChemE Car). We research, design, build, integrate, and optimize different systems to create a small, autonomous, chemically powered car every year. If you are interested in working in a safe laboratory environment, learni
ng about innovative electrochemistry and reaction kinetics, building cars, or even working behind the scenes to manage resources, logistics, and events planning, then UTCV is the team to join. The University of Toronto Chemical Vehicles Design Team is a multidisciplinary design team where undergraduate engineering students work collaboratively on designing and constructing a small car model. The car may only rely on chemical energy sources to safely carry a specified load over a given distance and come to a stop. After a fully-functioning car has been constructed and tested, the team travels to the United States to compete in the AIChE (American Institute for Chemical Engineers) Chem-E-Car Regional Competition™ against other universities. Upon qualification, the team can compete against the best universities internationally at the Annual Student Conference. Reference and for more info http://www.aiche.org/community/students/chem-e-car
Can I be involved even if I don’t know anything about chemicals? YES! We have four divisions in our design team, requiring the background of students in disciplines such as Chemical, Mechanical, Electrical, Materials, etc., and encourage students of all disciplines to join:
1) Operations Division
The Operations Division is responsible for managing UTCV’s resources. The Division handles finances, events, marketing, sponsorship, and, most importantly, competition planning.
2) Mechatronics Division
The Mechatronics Division focuses on bridging the gap between mechanical and electrical engineering concepts. The division is responsible for building the car chassis, car body, and a stationary testing bench for the finished car. The Mechatronics team is also responsible for selecting and integrating a motor, designing gears, creating containment for car components, constructing circuits, and employing sensors and microcontrollers to utilize criteria provided by the Power Source and Reactions divisions to move and stop the car.
3) Power Division
The Power Source Division specializes in applications of electrochemistry. The division is responsible for researching, designing, building, and testing a power source that; provides enough energy output to power the car during competition, is safe to handle, and is environmentally friendly. Metal-Air Batteries are the current team’s focus.
4) Reactions Division
The Reactions Division focuses on applications of reaction kinetics and behavior. The division is responsible for researching, designing, building, and testing a stopping mechanism that is responsible for stopping the car model accurately using the physical or chemical properties of chemicals involved in a reaction (i.e. no mechanical brakes allowed). Clock reactions are the current team’s focus.
