7 Malaysian teams vie for top spots at Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2017

Representing the country this year are seven (7) teams from five universities – Monash University Malaysia; Multimedia University; Universiti Malaya; Universiti Teknologi MARA; Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman. Four out of the seven teams competing this year emerged winners at the 2016 competition and will reprise their roles in representing Malaysia, casting the limelight once again on the country for producing some of the youngest innovative talents in science, technology, engineering and energy.

Shell Eco-Marathon is a key platform for youths to develop and showcase their talents in science, technology, engineering, and energy fields. It also serves as an avenue for the region’s youngest and brightest to discover new ways of bringing their ideas to live through creative business, marketing, and communications approaches.

Colin Chin, Shell Eco-marathon (SEM) Asia Technical Director said, “SEM is a platform for talented young innovators from different countries to design, build, and power the most energy efficient vehicle through various energy types, including new energy sources such as hydrogen, GTL, and battery electric. The inaugural SEM Asia was held in Malaysia in 2010. Year after year, we see Malaysian students showcase immense creative talent in building energy efficient vehicles that could very well be the future of our automotive industry. This year, we have seven teams from the age of 18-25 representing the country –showcasing the potential of our future engineers! On behalf of Shell Malaysia, I wish them all the very best. I know they will make us proud!”

The 2017 Shell Eco Marathon Teams

2016 Shell Eco-Marathon Malaysian Team winners.

1. Team UiTM Eco-Sprint from UiTM Shah Alam scored a hat-trick emerging as champions in the Prototype Hydrogen Fuel Cell category for the third year in a row, with another record-breaking mileage of 476 km/m3.
2. The UiTM Eco-Planet ranked first place in the UrbanConcept Hydrogen Fuel Cell category for 3 times. The innovative team debuted a 3-D printed car that was assembled from 120 individually-printed parts, with each part taking approximately 10 hours to complete.
3. Team Eco-Voyager from Universiti Malaya (UM) were runners-up for the Prototype Hydrogen Fuel Cell category, recording a mileage of 244km/m3 and improvement over their previous year’s performance.
4. Team Eco-Chaser from Monash University Malaysia won first prize in the Prototype Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) category with a mileage of 95km/l, the approximate equivalent of driving from Kuala Lumpur to Port Dickson on just one (1) litre of fuel.

For the first-time ever, this year’s Shell Eco-marathon forms part of a larger Make the Future Singapore festival of ideas and innovation for Asia. The public event will feature bright energy ideas and solutions that address the global energy challenge, ie how to meet the energy demands of the future, while producing less CO2 emissions.

Three interactive zones – ‘Our Energy Future’, ‘On the Move’ and ‘Live, Work, Play’ – will be showcased at Make the Future Singapore grounds. Through virtual reality and hands-on interaction, visitors will be able to explore what goes into powering our cities and the world today, and have first-hand view of what the future of energy might look like, from renewable energy to natural gas and low-carbon technologies. They will also learn about bright energy ideas from around Asia, and have their festival experience completed with performances by renowned local and international celebrities in action.
For more information on Make the Future Singapore and to register for free priority tickets to the event, please visit Make the Future Singapore website.

Media Enquiries:

Eevon Chung
Head of Media Relations & Issues Management, Shell Malaysia
eevon.chung@shell.com

Cindy Lopez
Head, South East Asia/South Asia, Media Relations
cindy.lopez@shell.com

Note To Editors:

About Shell Eco-marathon
Shell Eco-marathon is a unique, global competition that challenges students to push the boundaries of energy efficiency on the road. There are three regional Shell Eco-marathon competitions held throughout the year in Asia, America and Europe. The competition provides an arena for students to test vehicles they design and build themselves. It aims to inspire young people to become scientists and engineers of the future.

Shell Eco-marathon began in 1939 at a Shell research laboratory in the United States as a friendly wager between scientists to see who could get the most miles per gallon from their vehicle. In 1985 in France, Shell Eco-marathon as we know it today was born. In April 2007, the Shell Eco-marathon Americas event was launched in the United States, and in 2010, the inaugural Shell Eco-marathon Asia was held in Malaysia, up until 2013. The event was held in Manila, Philippines from 2014 to 2016 and moves to Singapore as part of the Make the Future festival for the first time in 2017.

Click to access previous event images.

Highlights of Shell Make the Future Singapore:

• Watch as 120 Shell Eco-marathon student teams from the region compete on the track to see who has designed and built the most energy efficient vehicle for the track, culminating in the Drivers’ World Championship Asia.
• Get active in the Zorb energy generators which allow visitors to challenge each other to generate the most amount of electricity through motion.
• See an ultra-efficient Shell Concept Car, jointly developed with Geo Technology and Gordon Murray Design, which uses a third (34%) less energy over its entire lifetime compared to a typical petrol-powered car.
• Take part in a football target challenge where visitors charge up a timer by running on a Pavegen tile, buying them as much time as possible to take shots at a target. The winner is the highest scorer in the time they have generated.
• Enjoy musical performances by Singapore entertainer and rising Asian star Nathan Hartono, as well as local bands Take Two and Disco Hue.
• See demonstrations like the innovative GravityLight device which is a falling weight that provides affordable and instant light and power, improving the quality of life for the world’s poorest communities.

Powering Progress Together will bring together over 100 attendees to discuss the theme “Cleaner Energy Moves Asia” at the fourth edition of the forum in Asia. It will be a thought provoking session with open dialogue centred on Asian aspirations and dilemmas; balancing the needs of some of the fastest-growing economies with the demands for a better life and healthy planet.

About Drivers’ World Championship Asia

The very first Drivers’ World Championship (DWC) Asia heat will launch at Make the Future Singapore. This spectators’ event will challenge students in a race to see who is the fastest energy-efficient driver.
Following the conclusion of the Shell Eco-Marathon Mileage Challenge, the top four teams from each UrbanConcept Energy Class (internal combustion, hydrogen fuel cell, battery electric) will be invited to compete in DWC Asia heat, to be held on the final day of the event.

• During DWC Asia, eight of 12 qualified teams will enter an individual time-trial style event;
• Teams will be given a fixed amount of energy, based on their mileage challenge performance, to complete the distance of the final race (maintaining handicapping concept);
• The first car that crosses the finish line, after a determined number of laps, wins and will earn the title of Drivers’ World Championship Asia Champion.

The top three teams from Make the Future Singapore, together with the top three teams from Make the Future Detroit and Make the Future London, will all receive an invitation to compete in the Drivers’ World Championship Grand Final, held at Make the Future Live in London. Make the Future has five Global Partners:

• Agility: Official Paddock Partner
• Hewlett Packard (HP): Official Global Information Technology (IT) Partner
• HPE: Official Global Partner
• The Linde Group: Official Global Partner
• Southwest Research Institute: Official Global Partner