Bright ideas and student innovation feature at opening ceremony for Make the Future Singapore
Mar 17, 2017
Official launch of the festival also marks the start of Shell Eco-marathon Asia, a student design-and-build competition showcasing the region’s most energy-efficient vehicles.
The first-ever Make the Future Singapore, a festival of ideas and innovation for Asia, was officially launched today at the Changi Exhibition Centre, Singapore. Celebrating the best of energy and mobility, the ceremony also saw student teams from Asia Pacific and the Middle East showcase their self-built vehicles at the flag-off ceremony of the eighth edition of Shell Eco-marathon Asia. Present at the start line to welcome teams representing each of the 20 countries participating in the competition were Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, Downstream Director and Executive Committee member of Royal Dutch Shell John Abbott, as well as Shell Companies in Singapore Chairman Goh Swee Chen.
“In a fast-changing world, innovation and collaboration are more important than ever,” said John Abbott, Downstream Director for Royal Dutch Shell. “Focused on young entrepreneurs and bright energy ideas, Make the Future Singapore aims to inspire individuals, communities, governments and businesses in the region to come together to find solutions for a lower-carbon future. Through the myriad of activities, Shell wants to build fruitful partnerships and help turn ideas into reality. I have no doubt that the festival will inspire a whole new generation. We are inviting everyone to get involved, feel inspired and help make the future.”
Shell’s Make the Future Festivals of ideas and innovation are a global initiative with events in Asia, America and Europe. The Asia event has the widest geographical reach with 20 countries participating, accounting for more than 60% of the world’s population.
An annual competition that challenges teams to design, build and drive the most energy-efficient cars, the flag-off also marks the first time Shell Eco-marathon Asia is held in Singapore. 123 student teams from 20 countries will be competing in either of two categories of the competition: Prototype – futuristic and highly aerodynamic vehicles – or UrbanConcept – highly economical vehicles that resemble today’s cars. Students will compete in three different categories based on their selected energy source: Internal Combustion Engine (ICE): Gasoline, diesel, ethanol (biofuel), Gas to Liquid (GTL) fuel made from natural gas, CNG (compressed natural gas); hydrogen fuel cell; and battery electric power. The eighth Asian edition of the student innovation competition welcomes an entrant from New Zealand for the first time in its history.
All vehicles must pass a set of technical tests before they are allowed onto the competition circuit to see how far they can get on the least amount of fuel, and potentially achieve the highest mileage in the competition. As of noon today, over 76 student teams have passed the technical inspection.
This year, the competition takes on an additional element of excitement with the inaugural Drivers’ World Championship (DWC) Asia, an exciting race format in which the best teams in the region will compete for their place in the Drivers’ World Championship Grand Final in London in on May 28, 2017, competing in an exciting head-to-head race to see who is the most energy-efficient driver.
To drive innovation and creative thinking in the energy and mobility space, Make the Future Singapore also shined the spotlight on young entrepreneurs. Held as part of the opening festivities, the Shell #makethefuture Accelerator was an interactive event designed to help entrepreneurs turn their bright energy ideas into businesses that can expand across Asia.
Through a combination of talks, strategy sessions and brainstorm discussions with experts from government, the media, Singapore’s thriving start-up scene, the event provided a platform for the entrepreneurs to share their challenges and get inspiration to expand their thinking. The #makethefuture Accelerator also featured two successful young start-ups from the Asia region – Capture Mobility, an energy solution that harvests air movement created by passing traffic through specially designed turbines from Pakistan; and MotionECO, a Chinese enterprise that transforms waste cooking oil into sustainable biofuels.
Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Downstream Director for Royal Dutch Shell John Abbott participating in a football target challenge powered by running on a Pavegen tile. Photo Credit: Singapore Ministry of Communications and Information
Make the Future has five Global Partners:
- Southwest Research Institute: Official Global Partner
- Agility: Official Paddock Partner
- Hewlett Packard (HP): Official Global Information Technology (IT) Partner
- HPE: Official Global Partner
- The Linde Group: Official Global Partner
Make the Future Singapore 2017 is held with support from the Singapore Tourism Board, Ministry of Education, Science Centre Singapore and the Energy Market Authority.
For more information on Make the Future Singapore and to register for free tickets to the event, please visit www.shell.com.sg/makethefuturesg.
Note to editors
To access event images, please visit the following URL: https://www.flickr.com/photos/shell_eco-marathon/.
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 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.
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