The University of Houston’s Chem-E Car Team is heading to Boston this fall after earning second place at the AIChE Southwest Regional Conference hosted by Tecnológico de Monterrey. This result qualified them for the AIChE National Chem-E Car Competition, where top teams from across the country will showcase innovative, student-built cars powered by chemical reactions.
The Chem-E Car competition challenges teams to combine engineering, chemistry, and creativity to build a small car that runs on chemical power and stops using a precisely timed reaction. For UH’s team, this year’s journey marks a major comeback.
“The team itself hasn’t competed in many years,” said Cesar Gonzalez, a sophomore chemical engineering student and team lead. “So just being able to go out and compete was a big deal—and of course, being invited to nationals was quite the accomplishment.”
The team’s performance is the result of nearly 200 hours of hands-on experimentation, trial and error, and collaboration. Their car’s reliability and precision impressed judges and earned them a podium finish, just one centimeter behind first place.
However, the road to regionals wasn’t smooth. “For a long time, our batteries weren’t producing the power we needed,” said team captain and sophomore electrical engineering student Evan Castillo. “Up until February, we weren’t even sure if we’d be able to compete at all.”
Travel logistics also posed a challenge. “Getting the team to Monterrey was an enormous struggle,” Castillo said. “We couldn’t get sponsorship for international travel, so I had to work with the Learning Abroad program for several weeks…we didn’t find out we were going to make it until the Monday before the contest. We had a couple of all-nighters and somehow pulled everything together to make it.”
Despite the challenges, the Chem-E Car team showed up. Now, with nationals on the horizon in November, the team is focused on fine-tuning their design.
“The car from regionals had issues with the batteries, but we’ve made a lot of progress,” Gonzalez said. “We’re also looking at new reactions and preparing for next year’s regionals. We’re all super excited to see how the car performs.”
Castillo echoed that excitement. “We want to get more people from different disciplines involved next semester. New insights and perspectives can really strengthen the team, and we’re excited to keep growing.”
Stay tuned as these incredible students gear up to represent the University of Houston on the national stage!