Chicago area middle school students will race to see who has built the best hydrogen-fueled model car at the 17th annual model car competition to be held Saturday, April 28, at the Museum of Science and Industry, 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m., and racing begins at 11:15 a.m. in the museum's West Pavilion. The competition is part of the Chicago Regional Science Bowl sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and Argonne National Laboratory.

The objective of the competition is to design and build a vehicle that will complete a race in the shortest possible time. The cars will race on a 10-meter course. Each car will race three times to achieve its lowest time. The cars with the four best times will race head-to-head in the final race that will determine the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners, and ultimately the regional champion.

Each team starts with a standardized kit that includes an electrical motor powered by a fuel cell. The team is required to use the unaltered fuel cell, motor and battery pack. The rest of the car design and components are limited only by their imaginations. They will need to design the chassis, gears, wheels, axles and gas collection/storage tank.

In addition to trophies for the top-performing teams, awards will be provided for the team with the best design and best working knowledge of the principles and considerations for using fuel cells to power model vehicles.

    This year's participants in the Fuel Cell Car Competition include:

    -- Alternative Transitional Academy, Skokie
    -- Byrne Elementary School, Chicago
    -- Cass Jr. High, Darien
    -- Crone Middle School, Naperville
    -- Elm Place School, Highland Park
    -- Wright Jr. High School, Lincolnshire
    -- Lakeview Jr. High, Downers Grove
    -- Roosevelt Middle School, River Forest
    -- St. John's Lutheran School, LaGrange
    -- Jerling Jr. High, Orland Park
    -- Yorkville Middle School, Yorkville

The competition, for students in grades six, seven and eight, is sponsored by Argonne, the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, General Motors, CNH Case New Holland, the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Museum of Science and Industry.

The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory conducts basic and applied scientific research across a wide spectrum of disciplines, ranging from high-energy physics to climatology and biotechnology. Since 1990, Argonne has worked with more than 600 companies and numerous federal agencies and other organizations to help advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for the future. Argonne is managed by the University of Chicago for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.