Who We Are

ChemE Cube at the University of California, Irvine is a student-led undergraduate engineering team founded in 2025 to tackle global environmental challenges through technical innovation and entrepreneurship. Hosted internationally by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the annual competition challenges university teams to design, build and pitch a 1-cubic-foot modular chemical plant to address a critical societal need. This year, our driven team of 28 students is focused on designing and testing a Direct Air Capture (DAC) and regeneration process to pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere.

With guidance from our founding advisor, Professor Ali Mohraz, and our current advisor, Professor Erdem Sasmaz, our team leverages expert faculty knowledge in reactor design and sustainable engineering practices to continuously modify, improve and refine our cube into a viable product.

    2025 ChemE Cube project managers and team leads posing in front
 of competition sign at the AIChE Competition in Boston, Massachusetts.

Our Story & Progress

The competition is split into two phases: Pitch and Build. During the pitch phase, our team conducts intensive research to create a presentation covering our process engineering and business model. Qualifying top-tier teams then advance to the build phase to bring their physical design to life.

We have already proven that UC Irvine belongs on the national stage. In our appearance at the AIChE Annual Student Conference in Boston, we advanced past 60+ teams in the qualifying round and placed 7th overall out of 23 finalist universities. Building on that momentum, UC Irvine was once again selected as one of only 24 finalist teams globally to advance to the build phase at the AIChE Annual Student Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

          Safety Inspector analyzing 2025 DAC Cube Design for safety
                   concerns at the 2025 Safety Qualification Round.

Our Goal

This year, our team is focused on maximizing our cube’s efficiency by streamlining our chemical processes and system hardware. By minimizing operational costs and optimizing carbon capture rates, we aim to maintain a strong competitive edge while creating a scalable solution for carbon removal. Building an advanced DAC system requires continuous testing, specialized components and constant iteration.

               2025 ChemE Cube team posing for photo after finishing
                                    the technical poster session.

Why Your Support Matters

Your generosity will directly power the next phase of our project! Your contributions will allow us to conduct post-competition analysis, upgrade critical sub-assemblies and prepare our system for spring showcases and future competition iterations.

Specifically, you will be helping us purchase items such as specialized chemical buffers, replacement sensors and reaction components required to optimize our process. Funds will also go toward benchtop testing hardware, replacement parts for extended trials and travel reimbursements for students presenting our research at upcoming spring engineering conferences.

Your support directly empowers undergraduate engineers with priceless hands-on laboratory, design and leadership experience. Thank you for helping us build, compete and inspire the next generation of chemical engineers!

Connect With Us

Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn or reach out to us directly via email at chemecubesatuci@gmail.com.