For over twenty-five years, AIChE has organized its annual international competition for collegiate students, called the AIChE Chem-E Car competition. In this competition, students create a shoebox-sized car powered by chemical reactions that can travel between fifteen and thirty meters within two minutes. In past years, students from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering competed in this competition. This year, we improved the previous team’s car. Though we didn’t attend the competition, we still kept the AIChE rules in mind.

Greenhouse gases have contributed majorly to climate change throughout the world and pose a growing issue every year. In addition to climate issues, experts project the depletion of finite resources, including coal, oil and natural gas by 2100. Worldwide energy distribution remains unequal, with 625 million people globally lacking access to electricity. With advancing technology, new solutions like green hydrogen emerged to solve multiple problems simultaneously.

Thermoelectric coolers (TECs) are an emerging solid-state temperature control device capable of reaching refrigerative temperatures. Using the Peltier Effect, an electrical current transfers heat from one side of the TEC to another, creating a “hot” and “cold” side. Unlike fans or traditional refrigeration systems, they lack mechanical parts and hazardous refrigerants. They are also small and lightweight, making them both a safe and cost-effective temperature control option for commercial usage.

Plastic materials designed as stable compounds with low degradability create serious environmental problems. Long-lasting plastic packaging helps protect consumer goods but creates a one-way path from production to trash, with global recycling rates at only 9%. Biopolymers offer a solution by working well while breaking down faster.