Announcement of the victory of the ITS OG Spektronics Team in the PGD UI 2021 Chem E-Car competition

ITS Campus, ITS News –Even though they had to stop for a moment from competition due to the pandemic, the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) Spektronics Team was again able to show its superiority at international level competitions. This time, one of the ITS proud teams won first place in the prototype car competition fueled by chemical reactions through the 2021 Process Engineering and Energy Days (PGD) Universitas Indonesia last Saturday (13/3).

The ITS Spektronics Team managed to advance with 15 other finalists, beating 90 other applicants from abroad. In this competition, the Spektronics Team sent a sub-team named Spektronics OG (Online Generation), which was fronted by Michael Adrian Subagio, Rasyendria Rangga (Electrical Engineering 2018), Delvin Theodorus Hansell (Chemical Engineering 2019), Mahendra Daniswara (Metallurgical Materials Engineering 2019), and Lulu Sekar Taji (Industrial Chemical Engineering 2019).

Spektronics OG carries a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell-powered car, which is likely to be realized. Michael Adrian Subagio, team leader, said that energy development has now shifted to electric cars from gasoline-fueled cars. He also added, charging energy with hydrogen is relatively faster and can travel farther than other electric cars.

Not stopping there, continued Michael, the maturity of the five-member team’s innovation also shows the maximum use of energy. They can convert the waste heat produced by hydrogen into an additional source of power. The hydrogen used is also the result of a chemical reaction that composes itself with a purity of more than 99 percent.

“We have made many detailed considerations through this innovation, for example, the stabilization of power output. We also use a car stop mechanism with an iodine clock reaction that is difficult to stabilize, and that is a challenge for us, “said the student who was born on July 28, 2000.

Presentation by the Chairman of the ITS OG Spektronics Team, Michael Adrian Subagio, in the 2021 Chem-E-Car Process Engineering and Energy Days (PGD) competition by the University of Indonesia online

Among the other 16 finalists who passed, Spektronics OG brought a different car from the others. According to Michael, most of the other teams in the competition brought pressure cars and batteries, which incidentally have long been the preferred energy source for prototype cars with chemical reactions.

This competition, which is devoted to prospective process engineer candidates, is held entirely online, starting from selecting proposals to the presentation of works. The start of the Spektronics Team did not go too smoothly. Due to the pandemic last year, all chemical car prototype races that were to be participated in had to be stopped.

Therefore, the team members who come from class 2019 still have no experience at all. Until a week before the closure, Michael and the team had to catch up in order to complete all the administrative files, short papers, 3D car designs, and videos.

The primary day of the competition, which was held on Friday (12/3), emphasized 60 percent of the presentations and the remaining 40 percent on posters. At that time, the obstacle they encountered was the economic aspect of their work car. The jury commented on PEM fuel cells’ high price, which must be imported from the United States.

However, after seeing its performance and durability, the high price is certainly comparable. “Moreover, we have been using this fuel cell for three years, and its performance is still very high,” added Michael.

The three-dimensional (3D) design of the car taken by the Spektronics OG team from ITSAnother challenge the team faced was when it had to maximize 40 percent of the votes from posters that needed many options. “However, because of the extraordinary assistance from the non-technical Spektronics team by inviting other ITS friends, we were able to become champions in the PGD UI 2021 Chem-E-Car competition,” said the 21-year-old young man.

In the future, ITS Spektronics will continue to innovate and strive to develop the results of their research on a larger scale so that they can be applied. Michael admitted that he had also made a list of research plans with the team.

“Our hope is, of course, that we can continue to maintain the consistency of this title and have an impact on the environment. We hope that support and prayers from all parties will continue to accompany us in realizing our innovation,” concluded Michael hopefully. (far/ITS Public Relations)

Reporter: ion26