Chem-E Car 2025 Voice from the Team: Innovation Through Challenge and Support

In chemical engineering, theory meets reality, and for the 2025 CBE Chem-E Car Team, the global competition became a masterclass in turning challenges into growth, supported by our faculty and program. We are a team of eight local and international students who built a car powered by chemical reactions, transforming coursework into real-world innovation. Car modelling anchored the project, while repeated 3D printing setbacks drove sharper problem-solving. Members balanced lab and remote work, navigated cultural differences, and embraced collaborative leadership. With clear roles from propulsion specialists to electronics engineers, and strong communication, our team showed how the department cultivates leaders for a global environment.

Departmental Support: The Backbone of Innovation

Our success stemmed from the department’s commitment to student growth. Faculty mentors guided us on chemical reaction safety, including hydrogen emission work, and on project management, ensuring concepts like thermodynamics and materials science were applied to real challenges. When a safety inspection revealed design gaps, we drew on departmental resources to reengineer a secondary power source overnight, meeting competition standards and showcasing our resilience through the program’s emphasis on hands-on learning.

Global Competition: Expanding Horizons and Opportunities

At the global competition, our team tested our car and broadened our worldview through exchanges with peers from Asia and beyond. We saw groundbreaking designs, creative outreach like mini documentaries, and opportunities that reinforced a global outlook. The event also opened doors to graduate networks and industry connections, including alumni at MIT, underscoring how the program links academic excellence with professional growth.

Beyond the Podium: Lasting Benefits of the Experience

The competition journey brought hurdles from battery fluctuations to technical glitches, each becoming a lesson in adaptability, a core tenet of our department. The team gained not only technical skills but also the ability to lead, communicate, and innovate under pressure. As one member reflected, “This wasn’t just about building a car, it was about building the engineers we want to be.” In the 2025 Chem-E Car Competition, the team embodied the department’s mission to empower problem-solvers, collaborators, and global leaders, showing how support transforms classroom knowledge into lifelong expertise.