Pinoy students join forces in SEM

MANILA, Philippines - Team Philippines combined forces as they pressed their respective bids in Day 3 of the Shell Eco-Marathon Challenge (SEM) at the Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia yesterday.

Composed of young engineers from various schools, the six Phl teams helped each other out during the daily inspection and testing of their respective fielded designs, making sure their vehicles met the safety and performance standards of the event.

They, however, face a tough competition from the rest of the 116-team field from 18 countries across Asia as they bid for a better performance at this year’s SEM.

Team Philippines also aims for off-track honors with categories such as safety, innovation, and communications at stake in the event. Each team is given the chance to have five runs through four laps with the official tallying of scores and judging to be held today.

Team Philippines is comprised of six squads from five schools, namely Team Proto and Ice from De La Salle University (DLSU-Manila), Team University of the Philippines (UP-Diliman), Team Lahutay from the University of San Carlos (USC-Cebu), and Teams Mileage and Golden Engineers from Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) Manila and Quezon City.

The Shell Eco-Marathon Asia challenges students to build, design and test energy-efficient vehicles that push the boundaries of fuel-efficiency and energy conservation.

The Golden TIP Engineers and the UP squad are vying in the Urban Concept category while USC’s Team Lahutay, TIP’s Team Mileage and DLSU’s Team Proto and Ice are competing in the Prototype division.

The Prototype puts premium on fuel efficiency and streamlined vehicle design while the Urban Concept emphasizes on fuel efficiency with more practical vehicle designs.