On October 28th, 2018, the Annual Students Meeting of the AIChE (American Society of Chemical Engineers) held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, ended successfully. In the Chem-E-Car competition held on October 27-28, the car called 'T-Panda' was highly evaluated by judges and other participants. At the same time, Tianjin University Students won the 'Outstanding Student Chapter Award'.

The year of 2018 was the third year of Tianjin University participating in the AICHE Annual Meeting and the Chem-E-Car Global Final. The team's works achieved great innovation and progress in their appearance and principle.

The team of Tianjin University team fully utilized its ability to create independently, from the power system to the control system. The copper-zinc dry battery adopted a sandwich structure, and the internal resistance was reduced to 0.5 ohm or less by adding acetylene black, etc. Also the self-reaction was effectively prevented by adding gelatin and filter papers, making the battery voltage stable for up to 4 hours. Moreover, the control system realized time fine adjustment, reducing the errors to less than 0.2 seconds. The addition of methyl orange to the iodine clock created a new color change, making our team a rare self-starting team among the 38 teams.

In this competition, the Tianjin University team's work was based on the theme of “Panda”. It adopted a two-layer structure and used 3D printing technology to make the main frame of the car. It was painted in watercolor in the later stage. It could be described as a work of art.

The team of Tianjin University intended to show the Chinese business card, the cute image of panda, and also used houses and green land to express the idea of harmonious coexistence between human and nature, and the initiative to protect the environment. This design made people there full of praise.

The design of the whole vehicle was rigorous and precise. The power system and control system provided by the chemical reaction realized the safety and friendliness of the personnel and the environment. The referee and other participating team members repeatedly appreciated the the team of Tianjin University in the poster and safety review competition. The video containing traditional Chinese elements also attracted the attention of other people there.

On the day of the competition, the team members were full of spirits, high morale and confidently responding to everything that happened on the field.

In the first round of competition, the team of Tianjin University ran a good score of 64cm from the finish line, which was 40cm farther than last year’s final score, and ranked No.4 among all teams.

After two rounds of competition, the team of Tianjin University achieved a performance score of 2.5%, ranking the top 10 among the 38 teams in the world. In this competition, the Tianjin University team had made progress in all aspects compared with last year. The power system was original, the control system was more stable, the shape design was more innovative, the mechanical transmission was more dynamic, and the club management was more mature. The results were important, but more importantly, the team members gained knowledge and friendship from the competition, learned tolerance and cooperation, and gained exercise and growth.

In the past year, every team member had worked hard for the team. With the support of the school academy and under the diligent guidance of the teachers, the team members were on behalf of Tianjin University to show the spirits of the alma mater on the world stage and let the people know that we were the Tianjin University team, and we were T-Panda!

By: Turing and Tao Weijing, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology

Editors: Qin Mian and Keith Harrington