austraLasia #2662
Don Bosco Tech's Team Grigio ready for KL Eco-Marathon
MANILA: 18 June 2010 -- Palm trees and cosmopolitan high-rise buildings served as backdrops for three student-made vehicles of blue, white, and black.
With exactly 30 days left before the first Shell Eco-Marathon in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, the expansive streets of Fort Bonifacio became a practice racetrack for Team Philippines as they unveiled their prototypes for the competition.
Team Philippines is composed of students from the country's top engineering schools: the Mapua Institute of Technology, the University of Santo Tomas, and the Don Bosco Technical College. These schools were chosen by Shell Philippines for the first Asian edition of a marathon that has long been organised in Europe and the Americas. Currently, the highest record set in the competition was 3,777 kph for a litre of fuel.
"This is not about the race for speed. This is coming out with the longest distance with the least amount of fuel," Shell Philippines Chair Edgar Chua explained. "Renewable energy is used to the maximum and this is our way of minimising the impact of climate change and promote sustainable development," he added. The students were given 7 months to create a vehicle that will run "the most miles with the least amount of fuel," the main mechanic of the marathon. After a series of seminars provided by Shell Philippines on fuel efficiency, safety and the likes, the teams designed and made their own vehicles. The feat was lauded by Philippines Energy Secretary Jose Ibazeta, who graced the first public run. "The youth are the only people we can look forward to," Ibazeta said. "It is good that the renewable energy laws are initiated at the micro level," he said.
The test run, however, bore different results and learning experiences for each team. Don Bosco’s Team Grigio, with a top speed of 55 kph, sped off eagerly, frequently leaving behind the other 2 vehicles. Closely following was Mapua's Team Atalanta while Team UST Engineering's Tiger 400 failed to complete the stretch.
For Team Grigio, the race went as a breeze. Team leader Edmund Angeles told abs-cbnNEWS.com that the vehicle still lacked a shell when they did the test run in Batangas. With the vehicle complete, they expect the vehicle to run longer and faster. "Fifty percent of the mileage comes from the aerodynamics," he explained.
Don Bosco's Team Grigio is a wedge-shaped vehicle coloured in blue. It used bigger but slimmer bicycle tires and allotted more space for the driver. In an interview with the team before they came out with the final design, team manager Mark Lester Arrieta said they envisioned Grigio to be lightweight and with very minimal drag. The vehicle was designed to look “pogi” (handsome) but without casting aside fuel efficiency and safety measures. According to team leader Edmund Angeles, they made 2 versions of the car. The first one became a "lab rat" and the final vehicle was the improved version. "We already corrected all the mistakes we did in the dimension, the alignments, and the ergonomics," says Angeles. Last Wednesday, Angeles said they did a test run of the vehicle around school to see additional improvements need to be done. Construction of the final vehicle only began 3 weeks ago. Although it only has a top speed of 55 kph, the vehicle is expected to run at 100 kph with 1 litre of fuel, says Angeles.
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AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2009 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there. Or be interactive with the EAO blog Cetera Tolle. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
Don Bosco Tech's Team Grigio ready for KL Eco-Marathon
MANILA: 18 June 2010 -- Palm trees and cosmopolitan high-rise buildings served as backdrops for three student-made vehicles of blue, white, and black.
With exactly 30 days left before the first Shell Eco-Marathon in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, the expansive streets of Fort Bonifacio became a practice racetrack for Team Philippines as they unveiled their prototypes for the competition.
Team Philippines is composed of students from the country's top engineering schools: the Mapua Institute of Technology, the University of Santo Tomas, and the Don Bosco Technical College. These schools were chosen by Shell Philippines for the first Asian edition of a marathon that has long been organised in Europe and the Americas. Currently, the highest record set in the competition was 3,777 kph for a litre of fuel.
"This is not about the race for speed. This is coming out with the longest distance with the least amount of fuel," Shell Philippines Chair Edgar Chua explained. "Renewable energy is used to the maximum and this is our way of minimising the impact of climate change and promote sustainable development," he added. The students were given 7 months to create a vehicle that will run "the most miles with the least amount of fuel," the main mechanic of the marathon. After a series of seminars provided by Shell Philippines on fuel efficiency, safety and the likes, the teams designed and made their own vehicles. The feat was lauded by Philippines Energy Secretary Jose Ibazeta, who graced the first public run. "The youth are the only people we can look forward to," Ibazeta said. "It is good that the renewable energy laws are initiated at the micro level," he said.
The test run, however, bore different results and learning experiences for each team. Don Bosco’s Team Grigio, with a top speed of 55 kph, sped off eagerly, frequently leaving behind the other 2 vehicles. Closely following was Mapua's Team Atalanta while Team UST Engineering's Tiger 400 failed to complete the stretch.
For Team Grigio, the race went as a breeze. Team leader Edmund Angeles told abs-cbnNEWS.com that the vehicle still lacked a shell when they did the test run in Batangas. With the vehicle complete, they expect the vehicle to run longer and faster. "Fifty percent of the mileage comes from the aerodynamics," he explained.
Don Bosco's Team Grigio is a wedge-shaped vehicle coloured in blue. It used bigger but slimmer bicycle tires and allotted more space for the driver. In an interview with the team before they came out with the final design, team manager Mark Lester Arrieta said they envisioned Grigio to be lightweight and with very minimal drag. The vehicle was designed to look “pogi” (handsome) but without casting aside fuel efficiency and safety measures. According to team leader Edmund Angeles, they made 2 versions of the car. The first one became a "lab rat" and the final vehicle was the improved version. "We already corrected all the mistakes we did in the dimension, the alignments, and the ergonomics," says Angeles. Last Wednesday, Angeles said they did a test run of the vehicle around school to see additional improvements need to be done. Construction of the final vehicle only began 3 weeks ago. Although it only has a top speed of 55 kph, the vehicle is expected to run at 100 kph with 1 litre of fuel, says Angeles.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2009 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there. Or be interactive with the EAO blog Cetera Tolle. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
