The atmosphere is charged with excitement. As students rush in from different directions, one can hear frenzied chatter in different languages. Teams from different countries across Asia Pacific, including Australia, are working in their paddocks, building their eco-friendly cars. They are part of the Shell Eco-marathon Asia, a four-day competition that brings together the best student minds from around the globe to test their mettle and creativity. In a world where natural resources are depleting steadily, Shell’s initiative is aimed at preserving the ecosystem by facilitating young minds to come up with practical energy-efficient solutions. The students are given a platform to build a vehicle, use energy-efficient driving techniques and test alternative energy sources.
“The Shell Eco-marathon started in 1939 when two Shell scientists made a friendly bet as to who could drive a car they designed the furthest on a gallon of fuel. The winner managed a little over 21 kilometres,” says Norman Koch, technical director for Shell Eco-marathon Asia. Taking this idea forward, the company decided it would be a better idea if students, who are the future scientists and engineers, are given a chance to build fuel-efficient cars. “And that’s what Shell Eco-marathon is about. It’s a challenge to the brightest people and young students to build the world’s most fuel-efficient car. The best cars we saw at the competition do not come from Toyota, Ford or Mercedes, but from these students,” says Norman.
This is how the competition works. Teams of students can build one of two types of cars: Prototype or UrbanConcept. The former is a futuristic and highly aerodynamic vehicle, while the latter needs to be a highly economical and innovative vehicle that resembles today’s cars. All entries must pass a set of technical tests and are then allowed onto the track to see how far they can go on the least amount of fuel. “The current record in fuel efficiency in the prototype category stands at 3,771 kilometres on a single litre of fuel. It was achieved by a French team in 2010 using gasoline,” says Norman proudly.
One might wonder why Shell is conducting such a competition. Wouldn’t lowering fuel consumption affect the company? “There will be nine billion people on the planet by 2050. To avoid an energy crisis, we will have to work on reducing CO2 emissions. The quickest way to achieve this is by reducing the fuel consumption. Of course, there are new energy sources coming up, which is why Shell Eco-marathon has not only gasoline and diesel as competitive categories, but also battery electric and hydrogen fuel, or ethanol biofuel. We want to reduce fuel consumption and open the avenues for using other energy sources such as electricity, hydrogen fuel cells and bio fuels, and widen the energy drive by better technologies,” explains Norman.
The competition, which is steadily gaining popularity, draws participants from all across Asia. This year, 100 student teams participated in the competition, out of which 10 were from India. Besides fine-tuning their technical skills, the competition helps them learn how to handle pressure and work as a team. There are students who make it a point to take part every year as they gain fresh perspectives every time. Students of VIT University are one such team. “We have learnt that a situation can be handled by anyone, but taking the right decision at the right moment makes the project successful. We gain technical knowledge by observing the cars made by students from different countries and learn how to make things better. There are several things which can be optimised in the automobile industry. While working on this project, we learn about how that can be done,” says Ajay Kumar, a student from VIT University.
In the 30 years since it began, the competition has seen amazing innovations and creativity by students. “We have seen really lightweight carbon fibre monopods and also really creative car bodies, for instance, a car made completely out of bamboo! The whole chassis and body was made out of bamboo, which made it strong, flexible as well as 100 per cent recyclable,” recalls Norman.
The spirit of the students who participate in the competition is commendable. None of the teams hesitate to lend a helping hand to another team if needed. “We get a lot of ideas from other teams. The Saudi Arabia team in particular gave us some valuable ideas this time. They even showed us their car and the technology they have used. Nothing is secret and everyone is willing to help. The event has also taught me how to compete at such a big platform. It provides excellent international exposure and the certificate is really valuable,” says Ashrith Udayshankar, a student of Sir M Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology.
This year, Team BITS from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, won the Perseverance and Spirit of the Event award. “We didn’t get any financial aid from the institute. Also, as Pilani is a remote city, it was very difficult to get technical support and we had to travel to Jaipur or Delhi every time. We also faced a lot of commuting problems as the Jat agitation was happening at that time. When we were ready to head to Manila, our eight-member team faced some visa problems due to which only three members were finally able to make it. We faced a lot of problems while shipping our car as well. At the end, we were running out of time as well as funds. Though we managed to get the car running, we were too late to get it on the track. But it was great to see that our efforts were appreciated,” says Rohan, who was heading the BITS, Pilani team.
With rapid progress of technology, staying up-to-date is crucial. “I think that the future is of battery electric vehicles. This event has helped me gain crucial technical knowledge which will also help me in clearing interviews. It has taught me that safety comes first,” says Shaurya Sheth, a student of Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University.
The writer was in Manila for the event on the invitiation of Shell.
Published - April 10, 2016 05:00 pm IST
