Earlier this week, Shell Pakistan organized the Shell Eco-Marathon (SEM) 2021 Student event at Rawalpindi, where engineering students from leading Pakistani universities demonstrated the performance of their self-built vehicles across two categories –‘ Prototype’ (Battery powered) or ‘Urban Concept’ (Gasoline run) in line with Shell’s mission to power progress with innovative and cleaner energy solutions.
The vehicles were evaluated by a panel of experts; Suneel Sarfraz Munj, Co-Founder of PakWheels.com, Aamir Attaa, Founder & CEO at ProPakistani.pk, and Nadia Haseeb, Country Marketing Head for Lubricants from Shell Pakistan on three main areas – Technical and safety features of their car, Innovation in design and Social Media communication strategy.
Teams from Different Universities
Team NUSTAG from NUST EME was recognized as the winner of the ‘Gasoline Urban’ category; for the ‘Battery Electric Prototype’ category, Team Hammerhead from GIKI secured the top spot in the SEM Student Event 2021. The panel of expert judges also declared Team Urban from GIKI – as the runners-up in the ‘Gasoline Urban’ category, while the Team Envision from PNEC NUST Karachi – became the runners-up in the ‘Battery Electric Prototype’ category.
Another team from the NED University Karachi’, named; NED Racers’ were also invited to exhibit their fuel-efficient car in the student event.
Continuing for over 35 years now, SEM has become a global programmed. Since 2010, top Pakistani universities have been competing year on year in SEM Asia hosted in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. The international event brings together over 100 student teams from across 21 countries from Asia and the Middle East.
It serves as a learning platform for Pakistani students to engage with and bring home best practices from their counterparts from across the region.
Statement by Shell CEO
The CEO and Managing Director of Shell in Pakistan – Haroon Rashid, shared, “It is a privilege for Shell Pakistan to mentor these talented individuals in building their innovations. There is so much potential in the country’s youth that need platforms like these to showcase their talent and enable them to compete in global competitions and put Pakistan’s name on the leaderboard. It is crucial to keep innovating for socio-economic revival, as the global energy demand is rising after the prolonged disruption of Covid-19. We have the vision to energize national growth by investing in more sustainable mobility solutions.”
The students appreciated the valuable guidance offered by their mentors and industry experts to gear up for the regional and global SEM competition next year while also working towards innovating for a swift transition towards greener energy and technologies like; hydrogen fuel-cell and electric, etc.
I think that Pakistan auto industry would greatly benefit if these students were to launch cars for the public’s use. However two factors must be considered. logical price and guarantee for durability,