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Hydrogen fuel won the day for a team of University of Utah students.

The undergraduates took first place Sunday at the Chem-E-Car chemical engineering competition in Atlanta, where teams from around the world try to propel their respective boxcars the farthest with an alternative fuel source. The hydrogen power inside Utah's boxcar, dubbed Helena Handbasket, sent it the farthest on the 84-foot race track, stopping only 9 centimeters from the finish line.

"It feels awesome. It feels amazing," said senior Victor Crane, a member of the 25-person Utah team, during their celebration Sunday afternoon. The Utah students chose their hydrogen fuel cell this year because of its accuracy and reliability, and since it's easy to calibrate. It's also educational to understand how fuel cells work, Crane, a chemical engineering major, said.

The Utah team was up against 32 other universities, including Qatar University, the University of British Columbia, Cornell, the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez and Lodz University of Technology, Poland.

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers holds the competition at its student conference every year as a way to promote creativity and alternative fuels. It also focuses on the importance of safety.

The boxcars have to carry water, too, and the amount of water and distance the car has to travel are kept a secret until the Chem-E-Car competition starts.

"The students then scramble to calculate how to get their car as close to the distance goal as possible," according to the institute. "This year, the cars had to carry 244 milliliters for 84 feet, and the University of Utah… [won] the $2,000 first-place prize."

The money will go toward building a new car for next year's competition, said U. team adviser Tony Butterfield, who is also a lecturer at the university.

"We're energized to build a new car [and] try to win again," he said.

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