Seven teams representing colleges from across the mid-Atlantic region played a scientific game of bocce Saturday in the White Building using miniature cars powered by alternative fuels.

This marks the eighth year of the Chem-E-Car competition, a regular part of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' (AIChE) regional student conferences.

"We like to call it 'serious fun,' " John Chen, national president of AIChE, said.

Each team had to calibrate its car to move a distance not announced until an hour before the competition, with the team stopping closest moving on to the national finals.

Teams spent months and hundreds of dollars developing their cars and drew from a wide range of materials.

The body of Johns Hopkins University's vehicle was constructed out of Lego bricks supporting 16 tall shot glasses.

"In a perfect world, we'd have had this thing done weeks ago," Justin Olsson, of the Johns Hopkins University team, said. "In reality, we're going to test it once and wing it."

In theory, the chemical-filled shot glasses should have acted as copper-magnesium fuel cells, creating enough voltage to propel the car. In reality, the vehicle stood dead at the starting line and had to be withdrawn from the competition.

West Virginia University's design looked like something out of a 1970s science-fiction show.

A cylindrical tank housed an underwater Ferris wheel made of orange and white pingpong balls with holes cut in them. A chemical reaction pushed oxygen into the balls, spinning the wheel and propelling the car.

At the starting line, the tank bubbled for a few seconds and pushed the car about a foot before petering out.

"Even though their car didn't do so well, it was a tremendously creative design," said Brian Lamb, president of the Penn State student chapter of AIChE and emcee of the competition.

The Manhattan College team modified a Ford F-150 toy car to run on a fuel cell, incorporating a pair of condoms into the design.

"We've had a lot of experience with them," Jamie Lehrian, of the Manhattan College team, said, explaining why the team had included the prophylactics.

"It's extra safe, no STDs," teammate Henry Baez added.

The University at Buffalo team also said safety was a priority in its design.

"We've seen too many things explode in the past," said Abhijeet Kohli, a member of the University at Buffalo team.

On its first run, Buffalo's car went too far, nearly crashing into the wall on the other side of the gym before someone swooped in and picked it up.

Kim Osterrieder, vice president of the Penn State student chapter of AIChE, said Penn State didn't enter a car into the competition because planning the conference was too time consuming.

Lamb explained that the event gives chemical engineering students an opportunity to do something creative with their skills.

"Chemical engineers aren't really cool," Lamb said. "People enjoy what they study and want to do something cool with it."

The requirement forcing teams to use alternate fuel sources added an extra layer of meaning to the event.

"Clearly, we have problems with the way gas prices are continually increasing, and eventually we're going to have to do something," Osterrieder said.

In the end, Carnegie Mellon University, a first-time entrant in the competition, won the event, stopping just an inch short of the required 50 feet.

Jeff Pierce, a participant in previous Chem-E-Car competitions and adviser of the CMU team, described how proud he was of his team.

"It says something about the type of students they are and how hard working they are," Pierce said.