The dry cell battery team was one of the two sub-teams that were created after Bender 4.0, our hydrogen fuel cell car, retired. After the lack of power and reliability from the aluminum-air battery that we tried with MacGyver, we needed a more stable and powerful power source. After much research, we came across the idea of creating dry cell batteries, much like the batteries we use in our daily lives. For the first three semesters, we worked with zinc-carbon batteries, which uses zinc as the anode, a mixture of manganese dioxide and carbon as the cathode, and, lastly zinc chloride and aluminum chloride as electrolytes.

After a slow start, we eventually came up with a packing method, with which each battery can achieve up to 1.5 V and ~5.0 A of short circuit current. Our first zinc-carbon battery car, the Mauve Avenger, placed third at the 2010 Regionals at Johns Hopkins University. After over 200 more calibration runs, Zoidberg, our second zinc-carbon battery car, placed first the 2010 Nationals in Salt Lake City.

For the 2011 cycle, we decided to use alkaline batteries, which are very similar to zinc-carbon batteries, but use potassium hydroxide as the electrolytes. We were able to achieve similar results with these, with the added bonus of durability provided by alkaline batteries. We were able to place first at the 2011 Regionals at University of Rhode Island, with our alkaline battery car, Zoidberg II.

After two years of zinc and carbon based batteries, we are currently researching other batteries, namely lithium ion batteries, to use at the next competition.

The pressure sub-team is currently working on a car powered by a gas-producing reaction. We plan on using the pressure created by the reaction to power a tool that will, in turn, create electricity with a generator. The generator will power the motor. As our stopping mechanism, we are using the typical iodine clock reaction so that after a certain amount of time, no light will pass through to the sensor and the circuit will trip. As a result, the motor will stop. Our sub-team is split into two groups—one that is working on the chemistry and pressure vessel for the reaction, and one that is working on harnessing the pressure to power the motor. Together, these two groups will create a working pressure car much different from our previous designs.

Currently the potions team is working on a new delivery system to eliminate human error because the entire competition is about consistency and without it winning is near impossible. The original design uses a syringe that someone must push down on to begin the reaction, but depending on the speed at which the solution is injected determines if the reaction speeds up or slows down. Eliminating this problem is a main goal for the newest car design especially since chassis team will be creating new platform to work on.

As a side project we are working on creating a sterling engine. Last semester the team tried to create one, however it was slightly off with the camshaft and got stuck at the very top before it was able to swing down and complete a full cycle. Even with a few past failures, the sterling engine is a feasible power source.

The finance sub-team is responsible for Cornell ChemE Car’s fundraising and sponsorship efforts as well as maintaining good relations with its current sponsors. It has produced a sponsorship package and liaises with companies and Cornell to obtain funding. This semester, the team aims to attract new sponsors, maintain its current ones and apply accounting principles to the team's accounts.

In it's current iteration, the Fuel Cell group hopes to build upon the success of Bender 4.0, our first ever Nationals winner. We have a fresh team with brand new ideas that is building a car from the ground up.

Our focus is to design an efficient storage and delivery process for ultra high purity hydrogen to power a PEM fuel cell. A basic setup includes a small aluminum vessel for hydrogen storage at low pressure, safety valves and a 20W 13-Cell fuel stack. The team is designing an improved manifold to host our valves and regulators. We have a heavy focus on safety in our design which has led to the inclusion of pressure relief valves along with two-stage regulators to ensure smooth hydrogen flow across fuel stacks. We also plan to translate our plans into 3-D AutoCad templates to aid the design of a fully machined chassis. Lastly we aim to add a series of power regulators and electronic flow gauges to monitor our car's performance during both calibration and competition runs. We have set our sights on winning Regionals 2012 and then it will be off to Pittsburgh for the real challenge!

As the name suggests, the Chassis and Electronics subteam is responsible for the design and construction of two major parts of the ChemE Car: a chassis and an electronic circuit. The “chassis” includes the wheels, the main body support and the transmission which converts chemical or electrical energy into a mechanical power that drives the car. The “electronics” consists of circuitry which connects the energy source to the transmission and the stopping mechanism which controls the distance traveled by the car.

For each competition, the chassis and the electronics are modified or completely redesigned in order to accommodate new power sources (eg. battery, fuel cell, and pressure). Two main goals for all chassis designs are to have a light-weight car and to make the car travel as straight as possible. A light-weight chassis is highly preferred since it minimizes loss of energy due to gravity and friction. Likewise, a chassis that goes straight allows an accurate calibration which is vital to winning the ChemE Car competition. Similarly, a general guideline for the circuit design is to minimize the energy loss across the circuit and at the same provide a precise and instantaneous response to the stopping mechanism.

So far this semester the Safety Team completed the EDP (Engineering Documentation Package) for Nationals and made sure that the car safety and personal protective equipment was up to standards for Nationals. At Nationals we passed the safety inspection and learned about the safety of different types of cars to help us with our next task of creating EDPs for the intrasquad ChemE Car Competition. Each member of the safety team will be responsible for attending meetings and creating the EDP for one of the Cars for the intrasquad ChemE Car competition. We will be making sure that the car safety and personal protective equipment are up to the standards for the upcoming intrasquad, regional, and national ChemE Car competitions.