It will be for the first time that four Pakistani teams of young engineers will compete in the global competition "The Shell Eco-marathon - 2009" scheduled from May 7 to 9, in Germany. Shell International, the organisers of the event in a press statement on Thursday said "The Shell Eco-marathon", a fuel efficiency challenge is aimed at encouraging technology and innovation among today's youth.
There will be two teams, each from the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Science and Technology (GIKI) and Pakistan Navy College of Engineering (NUST), participating in the Eco-Marathon. They will compete against 196 other teams from across the world to see whose vehicle goes the furthest distance with the least amount of fuel, said the organisers.
"It is a global competition arranged to encourage young students to solve the energy challenges of the future," they said. Shell Pakistan sources, providing further details of the contest, said the competition held every year in Europe will be participated by a total of four student teams from Pakistani colleges, for the very first time. The global competition will be held at the 'EuroSpeedway Lausitz' a Formula One racetrack in Germany.
Meanwhile, in a send-off ceremony, which displayed the two shining new vehicles by the two NUST teams, Zaiviji Ismail, Country Chairman Shell Pakistan lauded the teams' efforts.
He expressed his pleasure to witness four Pakistani teams participating in the Shell Eco Marathon -2009, for the very first time since the Shell Eco Marathon's inception 25 years ago. Zaiviji observed that there was tremendous capability and talent in Pakistan and by facilitating the participation of these 4 teams in 2009, he hopes to enable more Pakistani student teams to participate in the inaugural Shell Eco-marathon Asia in Malaysia in July 2010.
This is the best form of education, helping students gain practical experience for the future, he said. The futuristic vehicles made by the student teams were displayed inside the Shell Head Office as a testimony to the hard work and immense potential of these young teams.
These vehicles will be transported along with the teams next week to participate in the Shell Eco Marathon 2009, to contest against 196 other vehicles from around the world to see which team's car goes the furthest distance for the least amount of fuel.
Besides the prestige of winning the title of the most fuel-efficient vehicle in their respective categories and the chance to win attractive cash prizes for their schools, these teams have the unique opportunity of representing their country on a global forum, and to stand as the pioneering teams from Pakistan for this excellent global initiative.