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| ECO Marathon Car |
Shell Eco-marathon is one of the world’s most challenging student innovation competitions and takes place annually in Europe, America and Asia. The competition brings together current and future leaders, along with a broader public passionate about energy issues. It encourages debate around sustainable solutions to the challenge of rising global energy demand.
The Nigerian students with the support of their professors and technical team from Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) have designed and built by themselves 95 per cent made-in-Nigeria cars, which are at 75 per cent completion.
To ensure that the cars are 100 per cent ready by end of February, for UNILAG, and March 7, for UNIBEN, the SPDC Eco Marathon unit has released N10 million to each of the universities including the team from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Kaduna State.
Due to initial finds constraint and the five months strike by Nigerian universities, ABU could not meet up with the criteria set by the Shell technical team. However, with the provision of N10 million, video cameras and technical assistance from the SPDC, they are scheduled to participate in Manila, Philippines for Shell Eco-Marathon Asia in February 2015.
The UniBen undergraduates of production and electrical engineering, include: Taj-Liad Abdulmalik, Adeyemi Adekola, Okwoka Daniel Ejiro, Ajari Emmanuel, and Oyemike Chinedu Justice while the UniLag undergraduates of mechanical and electrical engineering are: Agba Stanley Obinna; Abraham Abraham J. Imohiosen; Agamoro Joseph; and Abayomi Adeboye.
The team from UNILAG is led by a professor of electrical and electronics engineering, Ike Mowete, while a professor of Manufacturing Engineering, Akaehomen O. Akii Ibhadode, leads the team from UNIBEN.
Shell’s Spokesman in Nigeria, Precious Okolo, said: “The plan is when we have these vehicles up and running, we will have a mini demonstration of these vehicles in Port Harcourt and Lagos where Shell staff will come in and see what is done. All is part of the effort to arouse the interest of the Shell community in Nigeria towards this great effort.”
The student teams from Europe and Africa will from May 15 to 18, 2014, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, each try to drive as far as possible on the equivalent of 1 kWh or 1 litre of fuel, with cars they designed and built themselves.
Students from Europe and Africa have developed innovative technologies and organized fascinating partnerships to squeeze those extra kilometres out of their cars. Rotterdam will again be the setting for one of the most impressive showcases on fuel efficiency and the future of mobility: Shell Eco-marathon Europe 2014.
200 teams have been invited to compete in two categories: the futuristic Prototype category and the UrbanConcept category, the latter of which features more conventional concept vehicles. The teams will have an extra challenge this year with the change in direction of the circuit, stimulating the students to adjust their driving strategies.
After inspection visit of the two Nigerian teams by a team of engineers from SPDC, it was found that UNIBEN is blazing the trail with Tuketuke UrbanConcept.
Shell Companies in Nigeria, last year, supported a group of Nigerian students and academics (Team Nigeria) to participate in 2013 Shell Eco-marathon Europe. Team Nigeria consists of outstanding engineering students from the University of Lagos, University of Benin, Ahmadu Bello University, supported by their academic professors.
2014 marks the first year that Shell Eco-marathon Europe is expanding with a strong participation from the African continent. Teams from Nigeria, Morocco and Tunisia will take up the challenge to compete against their peers from Europe.
In the design and construction phase of the vehicles, teams are using novel technologies, such as professional wind tunnel testing to optimize aerodynamics. Teams also work with new technologies such as 3D printing of the body parts and dashboard.
Alongside technical partnerships with institutions and companies, some teams have also set up creative partnerships, including a primary school where young students design the graphics on the vehicle body. Throughout Europe several teams have also taken the initiative to obtain a license plate, allowing them to drive on public roads with their vehicle.
This year, for the first time, Shell has partnered with Eurosport to bring the event in front of a global television audience. In a series of mini films on ‘The Road to Rotterdam’, the network will follow the excitement and progress of teams as well as the challenges they face in the build-up to the event. A full half-hour broadcast feature of the event will be aired in prime time in 54 countries in late May and June.
President-Director, Shell Netherlands, Dick Benschop, said: “Last year we were struck by the spirit of the competition, the professionalism of the teams and the innovative design of the cars. This year we again expect to welcome guests from throughout Europe, together with tens of thousands of visitors from Rotterdam and beyond to support their local Shell Eco-marathon teams. It’s fantastic to see some of the brightest young minds working hard to come up with exciting fuel efficient vehicles. I wish all the teams luck and hope we see continued participation in the future.”
Adeyemi of the UNIBEN team in his presentation during an electronic phone conference between the university engineers, their Shell counterparts in Nigeria and the Shell Eco Marathon team in the Hague, The Netherlands, held last week in Lagos said: “We actually started with our usual paper design and we went on to do some simulation works. When we simulated we actually noted where the forces are acting and after proper simulation then we headed on the fabrication. We have fabricated the frame and the chassis. We have installed the wheels, the engine and everything.
“As at December 2013 we had our first test-driving. When we got to this year, we headed on with our brake design and now our brake is working perfectly well. The electrical guys printed cyclic board, so we did our own circuit ourselves and our team name is actually printed on it. So it actually original. We did that and we were able to use that to start the engine and some other things that come up with the electrical gadgets and all of that.
“When the Shell team came to our school they actually told us that looking at the time frame that we have we should draw up a 25 days plan till when we finish our car.
“We are very positive that by March 7, 2014, we would have actually finished everything concerning our car. At the present now we are working on the body. We are actually using fibre glass for our car body and that is what we are actually working on now. When we finish the car body we are heading for the interior.
“On publicity we have a facebook page with 277 members, we have Google plus account, we have twitter account as well. We have not been able to work too well on our U tube site. One of the things we intend to do as time passes by is to incorporate most of activities with the student union government. In terms of sponsorship we are actually on top of that. We have a contact in Glo.”
Corroborating his student, Ibhadode said: “We started this project in June immediately we came back fro Rotterdam as part of their Industrial Training (IT) experience at the penultimate year in engineering. So they started this work in June. One month of starting the work, the Academic Staff Union (ASU) of Universities went on strike that lasted till December 2013. During that period we did not know what to do. We now had to work out a strategy because all activities on campus were frozen.
“So we had to negotiate with a private firms outside that allowed us to use his facilities, give us a space where the students kept on working and it was there they were able to have this first version, which they test drove and when they saw the faults that were now rectified. When they called off the strike we now went back to campus a few weeks before the Shell team visited. By the time they came we were still trying to perfect the brake and other things, which we have perfected now.
“The particular car we are looking at is urban concept and the name they gave to it is Tuketuke, which is a popular mode of transportation in Benin City, Edo State, where mini buses are used. We decided that if we are going to have this car let us give it a name that is familiar to the populace.
“So it is Tuketuke Urban concept. We are hoping by the first week of March we will have a car that is ready to be tested for the technical inspection and hopefully it will be taken to Port Harcourt for test-driving. The bodywork is going on now and we are hoping that in the next week we will be ready.”
Agaba of the UNILAG team said: “We have completed our designing phase and the engineers that came can attest to that. We have passed stages one and two. At this stage we have started the construction of the mould and we are entering for the prototype category and we are using a chassis. We intend to use Raphia palm for the chassis of the body.
“We have already started the construction of the mould we are going to use and that should be done hopefully within the next two weeks. We have also started work on our battery management system, which is required by the rules by Shell. We placed orders for components, which we could not secure locally especially the motors, braking system and other electric components needed for our circuit. The order has been placed and we are expecting the arrival within to Nigeria within two weeks. The most visible items now are the construction of the mould, the construction of the electrical component and the other placements.”
Corroborating his student, Mowete said: “We have been able, as he said, placed the orders. We have the constraints of fund earlier on but fortunately Shell came through and the Vice Chancellor support was fort coming and we were able to place orders. Quite a few numbers of the items are not available locally so we had to place orders from the outside the locality, in Europe.
“Our plan, we have told the Shell team that they can visit us by the end of February to come and see a trial run and that is what we are working towards. We are going to work for two weeks intensively so that we can be able to present something to the Shell technical team when they visit by the end of February. We are not saying it will be perfect but you will have something that you will see in February. We can promise you that.”
Head of Communications, SPDC, Phillip Mshelbila, said: “I understand from your professors that this is an integral part of your development and training as well. That helps and I think that is a positive element to what we are doing. The focus for us has never being just about building a car, there that educational component that are critical as well otherwise we will probably be doing the Eco Marathon with a bunch of engineers who have graduated and are outside.
“I must say that I am extremely impressed because slightly less than a year ago when the teams were here and we talked, we were actually working on a different schedule. We were working on a schedule that by November this year will be the time when each of the teams will be ready to actually participate in Shell Eco Marathon.
“So roughly about six months ahead of schedule you have managed to be able to essentially get yourselves prepared to the extent of hearing back from the engineers and hearing from the phase one assessment that has been done. It looks like you have put in quite a lot of work in the course of preparations.
“We are clearly looking forward to Nigeria being represented and in fact sub Saharan Africa being represented for the first time in the Eco Marathon and you are the one that is going to do that and the ones that are going to achieve that. If anybody thought this wasn’t a big achievement I think it is a very significant one and all of you should be congratulated on the work you have done so far.”
Mshelbila said: “For us as Shell we have actually funded development up to this stage and we intend to support you through Rotterdam and hopefully beyond that. Indeed, one of the things that we had discussed last year when we met is that also that in addition to Shell funding, we would encourage you to always look beyond and look for additional co-funding that you might be able to raise.
“We have to my understanding now made available N30 million that is N10 million to each of the schools. I believe that has been received by each of the schools hopefully supporting the work that have been going on. We know quite well that your scope maybe wider than that. That is why I started with the encouragement that you should not be constrained by simply what we give.
“We have internally a team of Shell engineers dedicated to this project and I hope you have interacted with them. The intention is that they will continue to provide you with support going forward even beyond Rotterdam and all the way through because what was going to be Qatar 2014 has now become Manila 2015. February 2015 the Eco Marathon that would have taken place in Qatar in November 2013 will now be taking place in Manila, the Philippines.”
A member of Shell’s technical team that has visited UNILAG and UNIBEN for assessment of their preparedness and SPDC’s Principal Engineer on Projects, Eng. Rabvi Kampattu, said: “What they said is right. They had some funds constraints but that has been addressed now. By the end of this month we will visit the universities for another round for progress report. They have come up with a skeletal design, woodwork for the models. Now they are set to assemble.
“The Shell technical team has come with back up plan. Like in shipping from Nigeria to Rotterdam there is a lot of Customs clearance and your package may be delayed. We are very closely monitoring the teams and the projects.”
On whether the Nigerian team is ready, Shell’s Social Investment Advisor and Coordinator of Shell Eco Marathon Europe, Celina Wang, said: “Basically yes. I have visited so many teams and they are also assembling their cars. I heard that UNILAG is still designing. So I think they should really accelerate the process to have the parts ready in-house and then assemble it. But it looks good and we have to take into consideration that it will take a longer time shipping from Nigeria compared to other countries.
“Since it is your first time joining the competition you should make sure that when you get to Rotterdam you can drive it. Please don’t tell me you are going to come first in the competition. Be realistic, make a reliable car, which is also safe. I think that is really the first step in such competition and later on the years you make it more efficient and then you can break the record.”
Shell’s Relations Manager for Nigeria, Sola Abulu, said congratulated the teams and urged them to ensure that they have a communications unit and at least a female in their team. “
Sola said: “The car needs to be assembled and de-assembled for shipping purposes. You need to have a communications manager, people who are not involved in the technical matters.
“Can we have sufficient visuals that can be shared so that we can begin to build archive for the journey?”
Sola said the shipping of the cars to The Netherlands will take about three weeks but air-freight could be used to accelerate the process. “The vehicle should be in Rotterdam by the first week of May around 7th,” she said.
Shell Eco-marathon Europe aims to involve European citizens in challenges related to energy and mobility, while inspiring them to consider innovative solutions. With Rotterdam as the host city, Shell brings the competition closer to the public with a fit-for-purpose street circuit. Shell Eco-marathon Europe is a visible demonstration of Shell’s concern with helping the world to meet its growing energy needs in a responsible way and demonstrates its collaborative approach, bringing together students, partners and the public.
The 30th edition of Shell Eco-marathon Europe takes place for the third time in a row in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Various activities around the challenge are offered at the venue to engage and inspire European citizens who are interested in the future of our energy and the technologies to meet our future needs.
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