On the morning of May 17, the finals of the Second Tsinghua University “Free Energy” Cup Chemical Car Power and Control Competition were held in the lobby on the first floor of the Ying-Shih Building. The event attracted 138 students from eight departments, forming a total of 19 teams that registered to participate.

In his opening remarks, Lv Yangcheng, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Department of Chemical Engineering, stated that the “Free Energy” Cup aims to cultivate students’ broad and multi-level learning awareness, promote interdisciplinary innovation, and foster compound, innovative talent. He expressed the hope that students would seek truth and pragmatism, dare to explore, and be courageous in practice—allowing the seeds of innovation to take root and sprout, and enabling the value of scientific research achievements to take hold and flourish.

According to the pre-competition drawing order, each team carried out pre-run debugging, solution preparation, reaction initiation, car release, and other steps in sequence, then waited for the car to finally stop near the finish line. The performance competition segment was jointly narrated by Li Xurui, an undergraduate student of the Department of Chemical Engineering, and Zhu Yi, an undergraduate from the Tanwei Academy, creating a lively atmosphere on site.

Finals Scene

After intense competition, a total of 16 teams advanced to the finals, and multiple awards were ultimately selected, including the Performance Award, the Design Award (Comprehensive Award), and the Outstanding Poster Award.

Award Ceremony Scene

Professor Lu Diannan, Associate Dean of the Tanwei Academy, summarized the competition with three key words—“interesting,” “uncertainty,” and “pursuit of excellence”—encouraging students to participate in practice with a relaxed and free mindset, broaden their horizons through competition, and gain personal growth.

The “Free Energy” Cup Chemical Car Power and Control Competition is one of Tsinghua University’s “Top Ten Extracurricular Academic and Technological Competitions” and a demonstration competition project for 2024. The competition requires participants to use chemical reactions to drive and control a small car to travel a designated distance, combining both challenge and fun.