Students design ultimate energy efficient vehicle for Shell Eco-marathon
LSBU students will take their ultra-fuel-efficient vehicle to the Shell Eco-marathon this weekend, competing against thousands of their peers from around EuropeA team of engineering students at London South Bank University (LSBU) have designed an ultra-fuel-efficient car to be put to the test on the track at the 2017 Shell Eco-marathon.
The competition, now in its 33rd year, brings together approximately 200 universities from around Europe, challenging students to create vehicles which use as little fuel or electricity as possible.
Six students, supervised by Senior Lecturer in Electronic Engineering Dr Antonio Vilches, have been working on a vehicle since October to compete at Olympic Park next weekend.
“LSBU competed in the Shell Eco-marathon for the first time just last year so we have all been working very hard to improve on our performance with the knowledge we gained in 2016, and hopefully do well enough to come away with a prize,” Antonio said.
“As a team the students have worked together creatively to address the problems we had to overcome and we’ve now got a running car, working on a small 50cc petrol-based engine.
“We will have two days to test the car on the track before the big day, but no matter how the car performs, this experience will have been invaluable for our students.”
The team is made up of first year, second year and Masters students bringing their expertise to the project from varied backgrounds in design, mechanical and electrical engineering.
Thousands of students will take their vehicles to Stratford to compete, with prizes up to US$3000 up for grabs.