Learning on the move
Many teams had learned from the first year and fine-tuned their cars – some participants had to make modifications during the event. In the baking heat, the Malaysian University team cut holes in the car’s body to let in more air and added fans to cool the engine.
“The competition is a learning curve,” says Marvin. “You need to be able to adapt as one solution can lead to another problem.”
Fuels of the future
The competition provides the opportunity for engineers of the future to explore and promote sustainable transport. “Malaysian drivers are only familiar with petrol as a fuel,” says Marvin. “This is the chance to show what we can achieve using other sources of energy – with lower emissions.
His team’s car design was inspired by a droplet of water and shaped to minimise resistance. However, it found the heat and circuit slopes too great a challenge. The winner in the hydrogen fuel cell category was the Ngee Ann Polytechnic from Singapore, driving the equivalent of 84.9km/kWh.
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