Education

HOUSTON, March 27 /PRNewswire/ -- While most high school and college students are busy writing papers and preparing for exams, a select group from across the Americas are taking what they've learned in the classroom and putting it to practical use - building high-mileage, fuel-efficient vehicles for the 2009 Shell Eco-marathon Americas(R). After months of coordinating designs and constructing vehicles, 52 student teams - including nine high schools and 32 universities -- are in the final stretch as they work to complete their vehicles for the 2009 challenge taking place April 16-18 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Not only are these students looking to break the nearly 3,000 miles per gallon (1,275 kilometres per liter) record set in 2008, they are providing the world a glimpse into the fuels, technologies and transportation of tomorrow.  

"By participating in the Shell Eco-marathon Americas, we have the opportunity to study new fuel-efficient technologies in automotive applications and gain practical experience for the future," said Andrew Ritter, student team leader of the Mater Dei High School team, who set the Shell Eco-marathon Americas record in 2008 with an astonishing 2,843 miles per gallon, equivalent to 1,208.6 kilometers per liter. "Last year, we didn't think our team could compete with such elite colleges, but we ended up breaking the 2007 record in our first run. And that motivated our team to keep pushing the limits of fuel efficiency, both on the track and in the classroom." 

This year, student teams will participate in either the "Prototype" or "UrbanConcept" categories. For the Prototype category, teams will enter futuristic prototypes -- streamlined vehicles that focus on maximizing fuel efficiency through innovative design elements, such as drag reduction. For the UrbanConcept category, new to the Americas event this year, teams will enter more "roadworthy" fuel-efficient vehicles. Aimed at meeting the real-life needs of drivers, these vehicles are closer in appearance to the higher-mileage cars seen on roads today. For both categories, teams can use any conventionally available energy source -- including fuels such as diesel, gasoline and liquid petroleum gas (LPG), as well as alternative fuels such as hydrogen, biomass and solar.

The Shell Eco-marathon(R) is a global mileage challenge and forum for current and future leaders who are passionate about finding sustainable solutions to the world's energy challenge. The event challenges students to design, build and test eco-friendly vehicles that travel further using less energy. From vehicle design to financing, student teams manage their projects from start to finish. The winning teams in both the Prototype and UrbanConcept categories receive a grand prize of US$5,000 for their school. And this year, Shell will also have several "off-track" awards, including the "Safety Award," "Technical Innovation Award" and "Eco-friendly Award" among others. 

The 2009 Shell Eco-marathon Americas roster contains 52 teams from nine high schools and 32 universities from North and South America -- including Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States. The Prototype entries include 35 vehicles powered by combustion engines, five by fuel cell/hydrogen technology, three by LPG, three by solar power, two by diesel fuel, and one by ethanol gas. The UrbanConcept entries include two vehicles powered by combustion engines and one by solar power.

The complete 2009 Shell Eco-marathon Americas roster is:

Prototype Category:

Combustion Engine Entrants:

School                    Location               Team Name     Vehicle

                                                               Name

Barstow High School       Barstow, Calif.        AZ-TECHS      Stingray

                                                               806

California Polytechnic    San Luis Obispo,       Cal Poly      Black

 State University         Calif.                 Supermileage  Widow

California State          Chico, Calif.          Suffrage      One

 University, Chico         

California State          Los Angeles, Calif.    CSULA         Super

 University, Los Angeles                         Supermileage  Eagle II

Cedarville University     Cedarville, Ohio       Jackets       Slipstream

                                                 Racing        II

Cedarville University     Cedarville, Ohio       GL4           GL4

                            

Centennial High School    Corona, Calif.         Huskies       El Nino

Centro de Investigaciones Mexico City, Mexico    Nemesis       CLRT

 de Diseno Industrial

 (CIDI) / Universidad

 Nacional Autonoma de

 Mexico (UNAM)

Chitkara Institute of     Punjab, India          TEAM STEALTH  STEALTH

 Engineering &

 Technology /

 Punjab Technical

 University

Colorado School of Mines  Denver, Colo.          Colorado      Blaster

                                                 School of

                                                 Mines

Dalhousie University      Halifax, Nova          Dalhousie     Maritime

                          Scotia                 Supermileage  Mileage-

                                                               machine

Design School/ State      Belo Horizonte,        Team Sabia    Sabia 6

 University of Minas      Minas Gerais

 Gerais

East Los Angeles College  Monterey Park, Calif.  Huskies       Phantom

George M. Schurr

 High School              Montebello, Calif.     Spartans      R7

Grand Rapids Technical    Grand Rapids, Minn.    G-Rock        Fastest

 School                                                        Indian

                      

Louisiana State           Baton Rouge, La.       Tiger Racing  Chitty

 University                                                    Chitty

                                                               Bang Bang

Louisiana Tech University Ruston, La.            LA Tech       De

                                                 Bulldogs      Donderhond

Loyola Marymount          Los Angeles, Calif.    Gen2          Gen2

 University

Loyola Marymount          Los Angeles, Calif.    Team RAMROD   Tip of

 University                                                    the Spear

Mater Dei High School     Evansville, Ind.       Mater Dei     Next Gen

                                                 Supermileage  II

                                                 Team

Monrovia High School      Monrovia, Calif.       Team Green    The Green

                                                               Machine

Northern Arizona          Flagstaff, Ariz.       Team SAE@NAU  Ragnarok

 University

R. L. Turner High School  Carrollton, Texas      Turner        Microsquirt

Rochester Institute       Rochester, NY          RIT           X1

 of Technology                                   Greenvehicle

                                                 Team

Rose-Hulman Institute of  Terre Haute, Ind.      R-H           RHEV

 Technology                                      Efficient     74

                                                 Vehicles

Rose-Hulman Institute     Terre Haute, Ind.      R-H Efficient RHEV

 of Technology                                   Vehicles      74++ 

Summit High School        Fontana, Calif.        Skyhawks      Skyhawk

University of California, Berkeley, Calif.       Cal SMV       Care Bear

 Berkeley                                                          

University of California, Los Angeles, Calif.    Supermileage  The

 Los Angeles                                                   Enterprise

Universidad Nacional      Mexico City, Mexico    Escuderia     Ahuicyani

 Autonoma de Mexico -                            Puma

 Facultad de Ingeniería

University of California, Santa Barbara, Calif.  UCSB Gauchos  Gaucho

 Santa Barbara                                                 Mileage

Universite Laval          Laval, Quebec          Alerion       NTF 3.0

                                                 Supermileage

University of Colorado,   Boulder, Colo.         CU-L.A.T.E.R  F-CAT

 Boulder                   

University of Houston     Houston, Texas         Team SAECO    Phoenix

University Of Texas, El   El Paso, Texas         Miner Dilema  Orochi

 Paso

Fuel Cell Entrants:

School                    Location               Team Name    Vehicle

                                                              Name

Cicero North-Syracuse     Cicero, N.Y.           Performance  Pure

 High School                                     Engineering  Speed

                                                 Team

Lamar University          Beaumont, Texas        Rebel        1602

                                                 Alliance 

Los Altos High School     Hacienda Heights,      Hacienda La  Infusion

                          Calif.                 Puente

                                                 Unified

                                                 School

                                                 District

North Carolina A&T        Greensboro, N.C.       Aggie        Aggie

 State University

Penn State University     University Park, Pa.   Blood Sweat  Penn State

                                                 & Gears      HFV

LPG Entrant:

School                    Location               Team Name    Vehicle

                                                              Name

George M. Schurr          Montebello, Calif.     Spartans     Spartan

 High School

George M. Schurr          Montebello, Calif.     Spartans     Destiny

 High School

George M. Schurr          Montebello, Calif.     Spartans     Mach 1

 High School

Solar Entrants:

School                    Location               Team Name    Vehicle

                                                              Name

Centennial High School    Corona County, Calif.  Huskies      The Blur

Purdue University         West Lafayette, Ind.   Purdue       Racing

                                                 Solar        Pulsar

Ohio State University     Columbus, Ohio         OSU Solar    Red Shift

                                                              Firefly 2

Diesel Entrants:

School                    Location              Team Name    Vehicle

                                                             Name

College of the Redwoods   Eureka, Calif.        Diesel       Diesel

                                                Corsair      Corsair

Wright State University   Dayton, Ohio          Raider       Eco-Raider

                                                Engineering

Ethanol Entrant:

Los Altos High School     Hacienda Heights,      Hacienda La  HICE

                          Calif.                 Puente

                                                 Unified

                                                 School

                                                 District

UrbanConcept Category:

Combustion Engine Entrants:

School                    Location              Team Name    Vehicle

                                                             Name

Louisiana Tech

 University               Ruston, La.           Tech EcoCar  Urban Car

Mater Dei High School     Evansville, Ind.      Mater Dei    Street Buggy

                                                Supermileage

                                                Team

Solar Entrant:

School                    Location              Team Name    Vehicle

                                                             Name

The University of         Tucson, Ariz.         Arizona      SolarCat

 Arizona                                        Solar Racing

                                                Team

To help ensure the 2009 Shell Eco-marathon Americas is a successful event for all the student participants, Shell is pleased to welcome the 2009 event sponsors, including Autodesk, Michelin, Pennzoil and SKF USA Inc.

With many successful years in Europe, the Shell Eco-marathon came back to the U.S. as the Shell Eco-marathon Americas in April 2007. The Shell Eco-marathon concept started as the Shell Mileage Marathon in 1939 between employees of Shell at a research laboratory in Wood River, Illinois. Today, the Americas event extends to student teams from across North and South America.

In Europe, the 2009 Shell Eco-marathon project will take place at the EuroSpeedway in Lausitz, Germany. The 2008 European event attracted teams from 20 countries, with the winning teams hailing from France, the Netherlands and Sweden. Plans are also underway to bring the Shell Eco-marathon to Asia in 2010.

For more information on the Shell Eco-marathon Americas, please visit http://www.shell.com/ecomarathon .

Shell Oil Company, including its consolidated companies and its share in equity companies, is one of America's leading oil and natural gas producers, natural gas marketers, gasoline marketers and petrochemical manufacturers. Shell, a leading oil and gas producer in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, is a recognized pioneer in oil and gas exploration and production technology.  Shell Oil Company is an affiliate of the Shell Group, a global group of energy and petrochemical companies, employing approximately 104,000 people and operating in more than 110 countries and territories.

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SOURCE Shell