Shell’s Make the Future Singapore ends on high note with Philippine team winning race for efficiency in Drivers’ World Championship Asia
Mar 19, 2017
Crowning of Asia’s fastest and most energy-efficient driver marks the end of four-day festival of bright ideas and innovation
Photo 1: Winning teams from the inaugural Drivers’ World Championship Asia
Make the Future Singapore, Shell’s festival of ideas and innovation for Asia, came to an exciting close today with Team DSLU Eco Car – I.C.E from De La Salle University in Philippines claiming victory in the inaugural Drivers’ World Championship Asia, where the most energy-efficient student teams competed in a head-to-head race.
Held on a purpose-built 1.19-kilometre circuit at the Changi Exhibition Centre, the Drivers’ World Championship Asia saw winning teams from the UrbanConcept category of Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2017 earn a place in the Drivers’ World Championship Grand Final to be held at Make the Future Live in London, UK, on May 28, 2017.
Team DSLU Eco Car – I.C.E will be joined in the English capital by Bengawan Team 2 from Sebelas Maret University and ITS Team 2 from Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember both from Indonesia, who rounded out the podium places in the Asia heat in Singapore. They will now prepare to face-off against the best three teams from both the Americas and Europe to be crowned overall Grand Final champions and earn a once-in-a-lifetime experience at the home of Scuderia Ferrari.
Winning driver Carlo Miguel Flores, 19, who used a gasoline-powered car, said: “I can’t believe it! None of us can. This is just such an amazing achievement for all of us and we’ve worked so hard to get here. Now, to be given the opportunity to travel to London and compete for a trip to Italy and see Ferrari, it’s amazing. We already can’t wait!”
Last year saw Bumi Siliwangi Team 4 from Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia claim the inaugural DWC title in London, before heading off to Maranello, Italy, later in the year. Once there, they joined a group of fellow SEM cars to be the first purpose-built fuel-efficient vehicles in the world to drive Ferrari’s legendary Fiorano Circuit since it was built in 1972 – and later resurfaced using Shell Cariphalte in 2002.
Mattia Binotto, Technical Director for Scuderia Ferrari, said: “It was great to meet everyone from Shell Eco-marathon at Maranello last year and we cannot wait to do the same again in 2017. The enthusiasm that everyone had was inspiring and there is no doubt that these young engineers are the future, so anything we can do to inspire them further is a privilege.”
Norman Koch, Shell Eco-marathon General Manager, said: “Everyone involved in Make the Future Festivals is excited about the possibilities afforded by the Drivers’ World Championship and the challenge it offers our competing students. Marrying efficiency with speed has never been easy but I am confident that this competition will uncover some impressive automotive technology for the future. It will also add even more excitement to the on-track action at Shell Eco-marathon, which is great for everyone involved.”
Photo 2: Team Virgin from Thailand, winners of the Prototype competition (Internal Combustion Engine category)
The last day of Shell Eco-marathon Asia also saw Team Virgin from Sakonnakhon Technical College, Thailand, best the 2016 record in the Prototype competition (Internal Combustion Engine category) with a result of 2,288km/l. Other winners in the Prototype competition included Team HuaQi-EV from Guangzhou College of South China University of Technology, China with a result of 474.1km/kWh in the Battery Electric category, and Team UiTM Eco-Sprint from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Shah Alam, Malaysia with a result of 359.4km/m3 in the Hydrogen category.
Aside from the On-Track awards, five Off-Track awards recognised student teams for their outstanding technical and creative skills, as well as their approach to safety and sustainability. Categories included Vehicle Design, Technical Innovation, Safety, Communications and Perseverance and Spirit of the Event.
The ASU Racing Team from Egypt’s Ain Shams University was awarded the Safety honours for the design of their Prototype vehicle. In the design process, they mapped various scenarios out, identified the risk and designed the car to minimise the risk. Driver protection and comfort was key to the team, even at the expense of the performance of the car. Driver feedback was also well-integrated into the ergonomic design of the cockpit to enable the driver to perform optimally.
The inaugural edition of Make the Future Singapore saw members of the public, alongside representatives from business, academia and government, explore the future of energy and mobility through open dialogue and thought-provoking experiential zones.
Prototype Category Results
| Rank | Team name | Country | School Name | Fuel type |
Best attempt (km/l) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virgin | Thailand | Sakonnakhon Technical College | Gasoline | 2288.9 |
| 2 | Clean Diesel Team | Japan | Hyogo Prefectural Tajima Technical Institute | Diesel | 1416.5 |
| 3 | ZEAL ECO-POWER PROTO | China | Tongji University | Diesel | 1061.1 |
| Rank | Team name | Country | School Name |
Best attempt (km/kWh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HuaQi-EV | China | Guangzhou College of South China University of Technology | 474.1 |
| 2 | BIT Econopower Club | China | Beijing Institute of Technology | 427.0 |
| 3 | NSTRU Eco-Racing | Thailand | Nakhon Si Thammarat Rajabhat University | 391.2 |
| Rank | Team name | Country | School Name |
Best attempt (km/kWh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UiTM Eco-Sprint | Malaysia | Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Shah Alam | 359.4 |
| 2 | Eco-Voyager | Malaysia | University of Malaya | 255.7 |
Off-Track Award Winners:
Communications
Team PNEC-NUST-Urban
National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Pakistan
Team PNEC-NUST showed that good communications is a state of mind, and not a time of life. Its creative "Go Green" campaign focused on different target audiences and was successfully implemented across the public campaigns, print media, online media and social media. The team’s online campaigns were full of creativity – “Creative Pakistan" called for a poetry competition and a poster redesigning competition, while a "Don't be Fuelish" campaign provided fuel saving tips by implementing the use of new technologies. The team also held special events to engage key stakeholders – an inauguration event attended by the President of Pakistan and a special launch ceremony covered by major local news channels.
Technical Innovation
Girton Grammar Shell Eco Marathon Team
Girton Grammar School, Australia
This year’s 2017 Shell Eco-marathon Asia Technical Innovation award goes to Girton Grammar School. This Australian high school team has designed, assembled, implemented and tested a device to convert wasted exhaust heat into electricity that augments vehicle electrical operations. This innovation is novel and important because over ½ of the chemical energy that is within fuel is not utilised and is considered waste heat that just goes out the tailpipe.
Vehicle Design (Urban Concept)
Team EnduroKiwis
University of Canterbury, New Zealand
The EnduroKiwis team won for producing a car that brought fresh thinking about recyclability to the competition. By entering a car largely made of a common thermoplastic, the team showed a refreshing and holistic approach to design — it chose a material that was easy to work with, light, low-cost, and easy to re-use. The team’s approach to the competition also transcended the challenge of minimising energy use, by focusing attention on how the materials we consume also have an impact on the environment. The car’s design paid due care to driver safety and comfort, and the car itself was commendably well-finished and built to the highest standard seen by the judges. Ultimately, the EnduroKiwis car was eye-catching enough to make passers-by stop and look, but the way it was built should also prompt observers to stop and think.
Vehicle Design (Prototype)
Team Zeal Eco-Power Proto
Tongji University, China
Team Zeal Eco-Power Proto presented an extremely well-designed and well-executed monocoque ICE design. Team Zeal Eco-Power Proto drew inspiration from nature, in this case dolphins, for the streamlined shape of their car. They were very successful in achieving the difficult balance between design/aesthetics versus power train and transmission, weight and vehicle performance. They designed a fully enclosed vehicle – as a consequence of which Team Zeal Eco-Power Proto achieved a coefficient of drag (Cd) of 0.0622. Considerable thought was given to driver safety, vision and ergonomics. With regards to eco-friendliness and recycling, Team Zeal Eco-Power Proto was also unique in developing an extended service period concept for the vehicle by giving the retired car shell to a high school and providing free technical advice to help develop the next generation of designers. They added a very organic and human touch with leaves and water motif being a part of the car livery.
Safety
ASU Racing Team (Prototype)
Ain Shams University, Egypt
We were impressed with the safety mindset of every member of the team that covers all aspects of safety from design, through fabrication of the vehicle, to the race itself. Taking the example of a roll over, the team identified the risk, designed the car to minimise the risk and did an actual
roll over test to check the suitability of the design. Driver protection and comfort was key to the team at the expense of the performance of the car. Drivers’ feedback was well-integrated into the design of the cockpit creating a very ergonomic workplace for the driver to perform optimally
and safely on the track.
Perseverance and Spirit of the Event
Team Panthera
Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women, India
This team inspired not only the judges, but the young girls back home in their town. They continuously showed perseverance, both on the road to Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2017, but more importantly motivating the other teams at the competition with their resilience. As the first all-girl team from India, they went against the norm. It's not every day young girls grow up thinking they will one day be a mechanical engineer, but this group of girls went against all odds and went ahead to build their vehicle whilst still convincing their university to support their participation. Receiving official support at the last minute, the team overcome many hurdles to finally step foot on the competition ground after trying for the second year.
Notes to editors
About Make the Future Singapore
Make the Future Singapore is a festival of ideas and innovations for Asia that supports bright energy ideas and provides a platform for innovation, collaboration and conversation about the global energy challenge. It is a four-day event that will take place at Changi Exhibition Centre in Singapore from March 16-19, 2017. Through virtual reality and hands-on experiential zones, visitors will be able to explore what is happening now and see what the future of energy might look like, from renewable energy to natural gas and low-carbon technologies; learn about bright ideas from around Asia; and participate in interactive zones about the future of energy, mobility and innovation by Shell and other partners. For more information, please visit www.shell.com.sg/makethefuturesg.
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.
Royal Dutch Shell plc
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