Vietnam students compete in international fuel efficiency contest in Philippines
Eleven teams from Vietnam’s top engineering and industrial universities and junior colleges will compete at the 2016 Shell Eco-marathon Asia (SEM), to be hosted by the Philippines next month, Shell Vietnam said on February 22 in a press release.
Shell Eco-marathon is centered around the idea of stretching the limit of how far one can go on a single liter of fuel, the origin of which dates back to 1939, when a group of scientists at a Shell research laboratory in the US were engaged in a friendly wager to see who could get the most miles per gallon from their vehicle.
The competition will be held for the seventh time this year as more than 100 teams from 16 countries across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa gather in the Philippines from March 3 to 6 to showcase, test and drive their self-built fuel-efficient vehicles on the streets of Manila.
“With the competition, Shell brings together today’s leaders with future innovators and people who are passionate about energy issues and asks them to think about sustainable solutions to the world’s energy challenges,” Tran Hong Van, general manager of Shell Vietnam, was quoted as saying in the press release.
The participating teams may compete in the Prototype category, where the emphasis is on maximizing fuel efficiency through innovative futuristic design elements, or the UrbanConcept category, which focuses more on ‘roadworthy’ fuel-efficient vehicles aimed at meeting the real-life needs of drivers.
Le Phuong Long, leader of Vietnamese team LH-Gold Energy, which won the UrbanConcept - Alternative Fuel category last year, shared his goals in re-entering this year’s competition.
“We have set an even more ambitious goal to challenge ourselves this year,” he said. “With the experience we have garnered from competing with the strongest teams across Asia, we are inspired to push ourselves further, think to innovate, and channel the strengths of each team member to break our own record.”
Long’s team set a new record in the UrbanConcept - Alternative Fuel category in Manila in 2015, running 164km on only one liter of ethanol, while team CKD-MIN10 from Ho Chi Minh City ranked second in the Prototype - Gasoline category with 568km reached.
This year will also mark the third edition of the Shell Powering Progress Together Forum in Manila with the theme “Collaboration for a Sustainable Future,” where more than 250 thought leaders from businesses, governments and civil societies around Asia Pacific are to gather to discuss multi-sector collaborative actions toward a more resilient and sustainable future.
SEM Asia 2016 will also feature the newly introduced Energy Zone, an attraction that allows visitors to experience a captivating and educational adventure into the future of energy, cities and sustainability.
