Manila gears up for Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2016
Sep 02, 2015
Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2016, a street circuit challenge for the youth, will be hosted in Manila which will mark the end of a three-year run in the country.
It’s full speed ahead in preparation for the final year that the Philippines is hosting Shell’s world-renowned smarter mobility competition, where young engineers are challenged to design and build their very own cars of the future that run the farthest on a single litre of fuel.
The Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2016 to be held in Manila will mark the end of a consecutive three-year run in the country, a highlight of which was the centennial celebration of Shell companies in the Philippines last year.
The landmark event saw record-breaking achievements in the seven-year history of Shell Eco-marathon Asia, such as an all-time high of 127 participating student teams from all over the region including the Middle East. The Philippine contingent also expanded to a record high of 29 teams representing 25 high schools and universities across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
A number of Philippine teams also emerged as winners, excelling in their chosen categories in the contest. Among the Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2015 standouts from the Philippines are the De La Salle University’s DLSU Eco Car Team I.C.E., which posted a top record of 126.6 kilometres per litres in the Urban Concept–Gasoline category, and the University of the Philippines–Diliman’s Team UP, which achieved a record of 40.5 kilometres per litre and became the only winner in the Urban Concept–Battery Electric category.
In addition to the on-track competition, the Shell Fan Zone was well-attended by the public with its interactive installations about the energy challenges of the world. These exciting activities aim to raise awareness among visitors of all ages about the responsibility to conserve and sustain energy for the sustainable development of the planet.
The Powering Progress Together–Asia forum is a parallel activity to the Shell Eco-marathon which similarly focuses on the issues of power, energy and sustainable urbanization. The event brings together thought leaders and multi-sectoral representatives from all over the Asia-Pacific region to address the energy challenges of the world. The Shell Philippines centenary was an opportune time to highlight the need for resiliency of cities of the future against climate change and urbanization.
The journey of Shell Eco-marathon Asia continues
In 2016, a bigger challenge is about to take place for the Asian teams, as the Shell Eco-marathon launches its first world championship series. London will be the backdrop for this event, with the best of the best teams from the various legs of Shell Eco-marathon in Europe, Asia and the Americas will compete to achieve even greater heights in the goal toward fuel efficiency and smarter mobility.
The Shell Eco-marathon has definitely come a long way from its beginnings as a simple wager between two Shell engineers in Illinois back in 1939. The Shell Eco-marathon became an official organized competition in 1985 and went global with its first US event in 2007.
In Asia, the Shell Eco-marathon was first held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2010, fuelling the first flames of the advocacy toward developing more fuel-efficient cars of the future especially among the youth.
The inaugural Shell Eco-marathon Asia in Manila in 2014 saw the historic Rizal Park in the capital city of Manila turned into a street circuit—a first in the regional event’s history, attracting thousands of guests from all over the globe. Alongside success after success of the Shell Eco-marathon Asia in Manila, the Philippine contingent to the competition has grown from only 15 teams representing nine universities in 2014.
Shell Eco-marathon Asia has definitely opened an avenue for students to expand their ideas and hone their talents to become future energy innovators of the world. The Shell Eco-marathon has become more than just an event—it is a concerted effort to propagate the advocacy on energy conservation, especially among the youth who will be the future movers of society. The event has also been a valuable opportunity for collaborations and multi-sectoral partnerships between Shell and other like-minded organizations to strengthen the reach of this advocacy.
The Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2016 will be held on March 3 to 6, 2016 at the Rizal Park in Manila. For more details, visit www.shell.com/eco-marathon.