PUP, UPHSD students to serve as PH bets in 2023 Shell Eco-marathon

Students from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) and University of Perpetual Help System (UPHS) will be donning the country’s colors for the upcoming Shell Eco-marathon (SEM) Asia-Pacific and Middle East slated in Lombok, Indonesia next month.

Members of PUP Hygears and UPHS DALTA ALTAS Valor are set to join the competition that will take place at Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit on July 4-9.

The aforementioned student-representatives are part of the global network of young innovators who create energy-efficient vehicles to promote sustainability.

To note, the SEM is a contest that pushes student teams to design, build, and test energy-efficient vehicles.

Shell Pilipinas Corporation (SPC) Vice President for Corporate Relations Serge Bernal urged the Filipino participants to look at the experience beyond the competition. “Take this opportunity to learn, meet more people, and enjoy. Be proud that you are the representatives of the country to progress sustainable mobility,” Bernal said.

"We at Shell Pilipinas are proud to support the next generation of innovators through programs like Shell Eco-marathon," he added.

For this year's competition, PUP Hygears will field the Luna IV in the Battery Electric Prototype category.

"We've been preparing for this event for months, and we're confident that our car will perform well this time,” PUP Hygears Member Miguel Licuanan said. “It does not only take one person to make a vehicle. It takes a whole team. You don’t just build vehicles, you also connect with the people, thus creating a more efficient vehicle,” he added.

Aiming to reduce the amount of waste produce during Luna IV's fabrication process, the team reused and repurposed the materials that were utilized in the vehicle last year.

In addition, the team is determined to bounce back from last year’s competition and to improve their performance.

Meanwhile, the UPHS DALTA ALTAS Valor will compete in the Urban Concept Internal Combustion classification using the Avalon. Powering the vehicle is a gasoline-fed engine mated to continuously variable transmission. It also comes with a carbon fiber body with enhanced stock parts and an aluminum chassis.

ALTAS Valor Manager Jacob Moises Torres said that the all the members of the team are both excited and nervous for the upcoming meet. At the same time, they are also optimistic about the outcome of their project, “We are looking forward to winning in the competition. Part of our preparation is getting guidance from SEM alumni who are also from Perpetual DALTA.”

Sending off the teams were SEM alumni (who are also Shell employees) Meg Celine Cruz, Joven Talape, Jerome Sta. Cruz, and Tito Eusebio as well as SEM Asia-Pacific and Middle East 2023 Race Director Pepon Marave.

“There’s nothing like being prepared. When you’re prepared, you’re not stressed. When you’re not stressed, you enjoy,” Marave, a Filipino multiple Formula 3 Asia champion said.

For her part, SPC Corporate Brand Manager Karla Zarate urged everyone to support the cause being furthered by the participants.

“We hope that the society would get to see the value of this endeavor in developing the STEM (Science,  Technology, Engineering, and Math) program in the country,” Zarate told Carmudi Philippines in a chance interview.

Photos from Ruben Manahan IV, Shell Pilipinas Corporation

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