This event is organised by Shell Companies in Singapore, in partnership with Singapore Environment Council, and aimed to showcase a variety of sustainable solutions conceptualised and developed by youths in Singapore. Mr Teo Ser Luck, Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Major of the North East District, was in attendance to show his support for the event.
The highlight of the carnival was the display of six eco-friendly cars designed and built by students from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Nanyang Technological University and Ngee Ann Polytechnic for the annual Shell Eco-marathon Asia. Developed to run on alternate sources of energy with minimum fuel, the cars were on display for the public. Booths were also set up by the teams to help educate the public about the technology behind their cars and the feasibility of developing similar vehicles for the future.
The carnival also celebrated ITE’s win at this year’s Shell Eco-marathon off-track awards. They were recognised for having the best design for their solar battery vehicle, iTErbo, beating 129 teams from 16 countries across the Asia Pacific region. Team iTErbo had impressed the Shell Eco-marathon judges by coming up with a clean, simple and functional design that served its purpose effectively – to be an economical and environmentally sound vehicle while ensuring the safety and comfort of the driver.
“The Shell Eco-marathon allows youths to be challenged, and to innovate and engineer sustainable, energy-efficient vehicles. We see this as an exciting collaboration between youths and the industry where we work together to find creative and innovative solutions to meet future energy demands,” said Ms Goh Liang Choo, Downstream Controller, Asia & Middle East, Shell. “Over the years, the Singapore teams have impressed with their Shell Eco-marathon entries. We congratulate ITE for their winning entry this year and hope their win will inspire other students in Singapore to explore ideas to create a better tomorrow.”
ITE also clinched fourth place in one of the two new off-track awards introduced in 2013 – The Student Energy Challenge: A Look to the Future – where students were invited to create infographics by considering the wider energy context in relation to the future energy challenge. The infographics submitted by the other participating teams from Singapore were also on display at the event for viewing by members of the public.
The Shell Helix Tribology Award was the other off-track award introduced this year to inspire students to consider the use of lubricants in the fuel efficiency performance of their car as part of the development of their Shell Eco-marathon vehicle.
Mr Jose Raymond, Executive Director of the Singapore Environment Council, said: “The Shell Eco-marathon provides the perfect platform for these energetic youths to showcase their ingenuity, talent and resourcefulness. These highly creative prototypes we see before us will draw out constructive debate and bring us one “kilometre” closer to realising a sustainable environment. Transportation is a necessary means of any economy, and with ideas such as these stemming out from these young minds, we will someday move around in such eco-friendly vehicles, without the guilt of increasing our carbon footprint.”
In February 2014, the Shell Eco-marathon Asia will move from the iconic Sepang Racing Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to the city streets of Manila, Philippines. The historic Luneta Park in Manila will be transformed into a track where over 140 student teams from countries across Asia and the Middle East will compete in designing, building and testing cars that can travel the farthest distance on the least amount of fuel.