Shell Eco-marathon cars rev up at the 17th UP Diliman Motorshow

Highlight of the motorshow was UP’s pride, Team University of the Philippines’ Kidlat, which won the Diesel Fuel Award in the Urban Concept category of SEM Asia 2011. Kidlat appeared side by side with its miniature version produced by the Die-cast Car Collectors of the Philippines.

Also on display was Mapua Institute of Technology’s (Mapua) car Agimat, which chalked up an efficiency of 241 kilometers on a single liter of fuel, enough to travel from Luneta to Agoo, La Union. Mapua’s entry also won First Runner Up for the Safety Award at SEM Asia 2010.

Joining the heart thumping motor show were UP’s SEM 2012 Team comprised of Jonathan Elveña, Jay Magaspac, Rainier Natividad, Jose Reyes, and Luis Yu; and Mapua’s SEM 2012 Team comprised of Eugene Santos, Porfirio Manuel ‘Porman’ Belgica III, Allan Kelvin Lado, and Tae Woo Kang. Former UP Team Leader and now Shell Manufacturing Reliability Engineer Tito Eusebio joined the teams and shared insights on his experience participating in SEM Asia.

UP and Mapua are among the nine teams from the country’s top engineering schools that will participate in the upcoming SEM Asia 2012, namely: De La Salle University (2 teams), Don Bosco Technical College, Mapua Institute of Technology (2 teams), University of San Carlos, University of the Philippines-Diliman, Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) Manila and TIP Quezon City.

SEM Asia challenges the region’s brightest students to design and build a vehicle that can travel the farthest distance using the least amount of energy. This year, the event will be held on July 4 to 7at the Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where over 100 teams from 15 Asian countries are expected to compete.

For more information on the Shell Eco-marathon, please visit www.shell.com/ecomarathon.