What is ChemE Cube?

In ChemE Cube competitions, different Universities have a team that designs, builds, and demonstrates a 1 cubic foot plant prototype that effectively addresses the annual problem statement (which changes each year). Teams compete on cube performance via a head-to-head duel and promote their technology through a 1-minute ad, poster, and 20-minute 'shark tank' style pitch to a panel of mock investors.

NCSU was one of the founding teams in the ChemE Cube competition and participated in the first competition held in 2021. In its early years, the theme centered on water filtration before transitioning to this year’s focus on Direct Air Capture. NC State still has its original cube, and current members would be happy to share it with anyone interested.

Here is NC State's ChemE Cube Competition video from 2021!

The ChemE Cube team goals for 2026 are shown below:

See the Virtual Qualifying Presentation Rubric for the 2026 student conference here.

See an example of a ChemE Cube problem statement here.

Interested in joining NCSU's Cube team? Contact team lead Daniel Gimolatan for more information!