Shell Eco-marathon

Over 100 student teams from all over Asia, Middle East and Africa gather in the Philippines in March for a unique four-day event to showcase, test and drive their self-built fuel-efficient vehicles on the streets of Manila. Shell Eco-marathon is a public event celebrating ideas and innovation, the best up-and-coming engineers, designers and inventors, and cutting-edge thinking about energy and mobility.

Shell Eco-marathon Asia is a visible demonstration of Shell’s commitment to help the world meet its growing energy needs in a responsible way by working together with students, partners and other stakeholders. Shell Eco-marathon challenges student teams from around the world to design, build and test ultra-energy-efficient vehicles. The engines are powered by various fuels, hydrogen cells or lithium batteries. The winners are the teams that go the furthest using the least amount of energy.

Saudi Teams at Shell Eco-Marathon

March 2016

King Saud University and Alfaisal University participate for the second year, but both with their unique change of events to guarantee they leave their mark at SEM Asia2016.

King Saud University has revamped last year’s “Riyadh1” into “Riyadh/2” in hopes of moving into 1st place. King Saud University engineers has doubled its chances of winning by introducing “Viper”. This battery electric powered masterpiece aims to astonish the crowd with its performance.

This year Alfaisal University puts its car “Faith” in the hands of a new team of engineering students, three of which are Saudi ladies. They have revamped the car to avoid last year’s technical mistakes, hoping to write SEM history.

March 2015

March 2015 marked the year of Saudi Arabia’s first participation in the SEM Asia competition which took place in Manila- Philippines. Two teams, Alfaisal University and King Saud University have set an example to other young Saudi engineers that they have what it takes to create a fuel-efficient car that can compete on a global level. King Saud with their gasoline prototype car “Riyadh1” scored 9th place in the prototype gasoline category cutting 99.6 km using 1 litre of fuel.

Alfaisal University couldn’t make it to the circuit with their gasoline prototype car “Faith” due to unfortunate events. However, staying positive, showing great resilience, and supporting others has won them the “Perseverance and Spirit of the Event” Award.

This was only the beginning for young Saudi engineers, to plan, develop, and overcome the obstacles they faced and come back changing the future of energy efficiency.