RAWALPINDI: University students on Thursday gathered to demonstrate their engineering skills and participated in an eco-marathon with vehicles that they had made themselves.

The event titled Shell Eco-Marathon 2021 was organised by Shell Pakistan. Students from leading Pakistani universities demonstrated performance of their self-built vehicles from two categories: ‘Prototype’ (Battery powered) or ‘Urban Concept’ (Gasoline run).

The vehicles were evaluated by a panel of experts.

Team NUSTAG from National University of Sciences and Technology (Nust) College of Engineering and Mechanical Engineering (Nust-EME) was recognised as the winner of ‘Gasoline Urban’ category whereas in the ‘Battery Electric Prototype’ category, team Hammerhead from Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology (Giki) secured the top spot.

The panel of judges declared team Urban from Giki, runners-up in the ‘Gasoline Urban’ category, while team Envision from Pakistan Navy Engineering College (PNEC), Karachi became runners-up in the ‘Battery Electric Prototype’ category.

Another team from the NED University Karachi, NED Racers had been invited to exhibit their fuel-efficient car.

Continuing for over 35 years now, SEM has become a global programme. Since 2010, top Pakistani universities have been competing in SEM Asia that has been hosted in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.

The international event brings together over a 100 student teams from across 21 countries from Asia and the Middle East and serves as a learning platform for Pakistani students to engage with and bring home best practices from their counterparts from across the region.

Students appreciated the valuable guidance offered by their mentors and industry experts to gear up for the regional and global SEM competition next year.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2021