Students from Faculty of Transportation Mechanical Engineering participating competition Shell Eco Marathon Asia 2019

Originated from Honda Japan in 1981, Eco-Marathon-Competition - Honda fuel-saving is a healthy competitive playground where participants combine creativity, imagination, and technology savvy to design cars that are competitive in fuel efficiency.  The competition aims to enhance the joy of creativity in the workgroup, as well as the environmental consciousness for young people. The competition is not only held in Japan, but also in other Asian countries such as Thailand, China, and Vietnam, with the slogan "How many kilometers can you go with 1 liter of gas?".

More specifically, this year's competition marks a 10-year milestone for Honda EMC in Vietnam, a journey of effort to supplement the playing field for hearts who aspire to conquer technical heights, 10 years of journey for the effective environment that Honda Vietnam always desires at. Coming to this year's event, the teams not only could compete professionally in vehicle manufacturing, but they were grateful to the 10-year road with Honda EMC.

In this year's Eco-Marathon-competition - Fuel Saving 2019, University of Science and Technology - The University of Danang sent 2 teams to participate, DUT-TEAM and TME-BKDN, under the supervision of lecturer Le Minh Tien - Faculty of Transportation Mechanical Engineering.

At EMC 2018, with the goal of a 5th place in the competition, the teams tried their best,  but because of the unfavorable weather, the contest ended with the result, that one-car got an accident and the other one exceeded the time of the organizers. From those failures and technical flaws in the competition, the teams learned a lesson and tried to fix it for this year's competition. As soon as EMC 2018 ended, teams planned to work on improving the design, aerodynamic calculation of the vehicles, and developing a number of new technologies to help optimize the use of energy.

3 samples Eco-Fuel Vehicles of TME students at EMC 2018 

The competition is launched in October each year and will take place in April of the following year. After 7 months of tinkering and working effort, the group has successfully built 3-wheeled vehicles using internal combustion engines. The car is completed, then tested, measured through the test runs. With the attractiveness and brilliance of the competition marks the 10-year milestone of Honda EMC, University of Science and Technology - The University of Danang has sent 2 teams of Transportation Mechanical Engineering Faculty to participate with the desire to create a playground for students to study, research and manufacture vehicles and can further improve their achievements in recent years. Two 3-wheeled vehicles of the students have designed and manufactured in more than 7 months. The model on the left side is the old 2018 version of the DUT-TEAM team, which now evolved into the new 2019 version of the team, and the model on the right side is of the team TME-BKDN.

2 samples Eco-Fuel Vehicles of TME students at EMC 2019

The competition took place on May 25&26, 2019. On the first day, the teams registered to participate in the technical inspection and the test run to get acquainted with the track. The second day was for the official races with many challenges for students from universities and colleges nationwide.

TME students preparing vehicles at the Honda EMC 2019 competition

The competition took place in 2 days with a very bustling and attractive atmosphere. More than 136 teams from colleges and universities nationwide participated in the test run. The groups of students from University of Science and Technology - The University of Danang have successfully completed the test rounds, the achievements on the first day of running were 650 (km/l) and 350 (km/l) respectively. With that result, both teams were very excited and confident about the official match day. Groups worked together to discuss strategy, point out the team's weaknesses, and evaluate the advantages of the other teams to have a good strategy for the official races.

The teams completed the test run on the first day.

On the 2nd day, the official Eco-Marathon races took place with challenging competition for 136 participating teams. Bringing an attractive atmosphere and attractive performances on the racing tracks of student self-created cars with an average consumption of 798.2 km/liter DUT-Team Team of Da Nang University of Scientific and Technology on three in the category of students and students in the contest "Eco-Marathon - Fuel-saving" organized by Honda Vietnam Company at the National Convention Center (Hanoi).

DUT-TEAM awarded the prize with the other participating teams

This is a creative playground for engineering students. Other than class hours, students participate to practice, research, learn creatively, work together to work in groups, solve environmental pollution problems. Through participating in these activities, students learn a lot of knowledge from teachers and friends, this is a really good environment for students of Transportation Mechanical Engineering Faculty as well as other faculties’ students to learn. practice, research experience, cultivate more professional knowledge.

The team celebrating the victory at the competition 

This is a creative playground for engineering students. Other than class hours, students participate to practice, research, learn creatively, work together to work in groups, solve environmental pollution problems. Through participating in these activities, students learn a lot of knowledge from teachers and friends, this is a really good environment for students of Transportation Mechanical Engineering Faculty as well as other faculties’ students to learn. practice, research experience, cultivate more professional knowledge.

In addition to the EMC Vietnam 2019 competition, the group of students also participated in another similar international playground held annually by Shell Global in Asia, Europe, and America. Teams with the Top 3 Urban Concept categories in each region will take part in the Drivers' World Championship finals held in London, England.

Team DUT_Gatech at Sepang Internatonal Circuit in Malaysia 2019

This is a long journey full of inspiration and youthful enthusiasm, showing the creative spirit and willingness to conquer the challenges of Vietnamese students in the international arena. Shell Eco-marathon is a competition for students who are passionate about creating and looking for effective change solutions. The contest poses challenges that require students in engineering, design, science, and technology to overcome the constraints of building an efficient fuel-efficient vehicle. Shell Eco-Marathon is a strong testament to Shell's commitment to helping respond to the growing global energy demand through collaboration with students, partners, and stakeholders.

In order to participate in this contest, students have to go through a technical test which is almost a challenge of "bravery" and teamwork spirit of the teams. This test not only makes the members of the teams nervous and worried, but it can also ‘knock down” the team spirit.

TME students taking a group photo with all teams at SEM Asia 2019 

The participating teams must be prepared to face the rounds of vehicle engineering, engine, fuel and safety tests that the Shell Eco-Marathon offers. DUT_Gatech team of the Faculty of Transportation Mechanical Engineering has passed the registration rounds and is one of five representatives of Shell Vietnam sent by University of Science and Technology – UD to participate in the contest. All 5 teams were both eager to enter the world-class competition, and worried about facing a very rigorous technical test before the car was put on the track. “Through a lot of rigorous tests, the moment the boys look forward to also come. In turn, each of the Vietnamese teams got closer to the tough track, preparing for the final hurdle of the competition. It is necessary to mention the student team of Da Nang Polytechnic University in the second returning to the competition, having passed the technical test on the first day, drawing lessons from the problems encountered in the previous year”- Quote kenh14.vn. The final result with the efforts of Team members and guidance by Professor Le Minh Tien, DUT_GATECH ranked 10th out of 26 teams participating in the Prototype category. This result proved the effort, change, and success at the contest, and is a pride for students of the Transportation Mechanical Engineering Faculty (TME) in particular, and students of University of Science and Technology - The University of Danang in general.

Shell Vietnam Leadership Board together with students of 5 Universities from Vietnam

The stress and anxiety in the face of a very rigorous technical test before the car is put on the track

Dut_Gatech Top 10 position on Shell Eco Marathon Asia 2019's rankings at Sepang Internation Circuit, Malaysia 

Sharing feelings and talking about the first run, member Phung Xuan Khanh was driving the team car excitedly: "This is the first time I participate in the contest with the team. I am very happy because I got into the official competition from the first day; last year, the team of University of Science and Technology - The University of Danang only passed the technical test on the last day of the competition. It was also the first time that I am able to drive on such a big track like this. Although I don't know the final result yet, it is still a great honor for us to be present and compete. "- Quote kenh14.vn 

The vehicle is going through tests

Pictures at the contest of Dut_Gatech team - Source Kenh14.vn

With this year's achievements from 2 EMC Vietnam 2019 and Shell Eco-Marathon Asia 2019 competitions, through the competition, students can learn valuable practical knowledge for each member, have the opportunity to exchange and learn. from domestic and international students, drawing valuable lessons for the students in the future. We have tried our best to overcome ourselves, to win ourselves and to conquer all challenges. There by, we recognize and set goals for the next year season, make more efforts, orient to continue research and develop self-made cars, create an environment of exchange, learning and creativity for students of the Faculty of Transportation Mechanical Engineering and University of Science and Technology - . Talking about our achievements this year, the students have studied many new things from the competitions. We would like to express our deep thanks to the teachers who have always supported and helped us in the past time and we would like to thanks the Board of Directors of Da Nang University of Science and Technology, the Leadership Department of Transportation Mechanical Engineering for creating a learning and creative environment for us. Therefore, we will make more efforts to study to develop and create a bright future.

Members of TME participating EMC 2019