(339d) The CHEM-E Car Competition: Furthering Undergraduate Education in Process Safety

The CHEM-E car competition is a tool to assist educators in teaching undergraduates the importance of process safety in the chemical engineering industry. The competition has two competition dates, a regional competition each spring semester and a national competition each fall semester. Student teams are required to complete an engineering design package with a focus on the safety standards set forth by the safety committee. The engineering documentation package requires students to consider process safety as they design, analyze, and create processes to control the operation of a chemically powered car which must carry an initially unknown load a fixed distance. The students participating in the program are expected to become familiar with management of change documentation, the appropriate level and use of PPE, the creation of standard and emergency operating procedures, and the design of independent protection layers.