“Doing more with less” is what a group of students from Multimedia University (MMU) Melaka campus had learnt at the recent Shell Eco-marathon Asia programme.
The team, known as MMU Grune Welt, succeeded in maintaining the performance of a vehicle while saving both energy and the environment with their prototype car, which runs on electric battery.
The prototype produces zero carbon emissions, making it the cleanest and most economical energy resource.
Ranked sixth in the Shell Eco-marathon Asia ranking, the prototype completed a valid run with the record of 278km/kWh.
MMU Grune Welt also won the Circular Economy Award for their vehicle design, the circular potential of the components used to manufacture their vehicle and incorporation of an assessment method to analyse environmental impacts.
The team’s win was a testament of their dedication to the project.
According to Grune Welt team manager Athmas Thum Jian Hua, the planning for the project took a year, and it took six months to build the car.
“The process of building the car took really long because we still have lectures and classes we needed to attend. The whole team tried their hardest to balance preparing for the competition and studies.
“There are 24 team members in Grune Welt and half of them stayed back with me at the campus over the semester break to build the car. I appreciate the commitment, hard work and effort of my team members.
“This year is really special to me as we have built a new car from scratch. With some guidance from our lecturers, it is such a great experience for me and the team to be involved firsthand in the process of building a functioning car. Our lecturers and advisers let us make our own decisions with little interference,” said the final-year engineering student.
He added that the competition was a platform for students to showcase their skills and interest in automotive and innovations in energy efficiency technology.
“Our effort in building an energy-efficient vehicle will definitely be significant to the next generation as they can live a healthier life without breathing in too much carbon monoxide produced different types of vehicles.”
Athmas said the team faced many challenges, but the most significant one was funding.
“One of our team members is a business student, and he helped me secure a sponsorship to fund our prototype car.
“This time around, we decided to use carbon fibre as the primary material for the car, which is extremely expensive. We opted for carbon fibre because it is light, so we can reduce the car’s weight and increase its performance to boost efficiency.
“Before this, we used aluminium and glass fiber, which are more economical, but heavier.”
Before the flag-off, the teams had to undergo a stringent inspection process, where more than 200 checks were made to their cars covering everything from the structure to the powertrain.
Describing the experience as “arduous”, Athmas said the team failed a few levels of inspections before going on track.
“There were problems with the brakes and side collision bar. However, we were able to fix them in a day.
“We were ecstatic to get our first valid result on the track, which ranked us ninth. However, we did not stop there. After getting the result, we figured out some ways to improve our mileage and significantly climb up to sixth in rank,” said Athmas, adding that it was a teary moment for the team.
Athmas said he hoped that more Malaysian teams will participate in Shell Eco-marathon Asia in the upcoming years as this could be a stepping stone to something bigger in the future.
Shell Malaysia chairman Datuk Iain Lo said Shell Eco-marathon was about becoming resilient to expected changes in the energy system.
“We want to be an energy company that continues to be relevant in the future. We also want to continue supplying the type of energy that tomorrow’s generation is interested in, like renewables and electricity. So, it is important for us to understand how that energy transition will evolve and take on a role to help shape the future of energy in the world.
“When we bring this competition back to Malaysia, we want more university students participating in this event. Unlike Indonesia, which has over 20 participating teams, we only have five teams representing Malaysia. This is an opportunity for students to stretch their theoretical learning in the classroom and build a tangible product that they can compete with.
“I believe that all teams have developed soft skills during the process of preparing for the competition. Soft skills are about teamwork, leadership, communication and putting ideas in the way that people can understand. I think it’s a great training to the real world because when you step into the industry, you must be able to work in teams across all divisions,” he said adding that the winner of Shell Eco-marathon will compete with teams from America and Europe.
In its 10th year, Shell Eco-marathon Asia also saw Monash University Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Universiti Malaysia Pahang and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman participating in the competition.