PERODUA'S Eco Challenge is only in its second year but it is already becoming fertile breeding ground for innovation.


According to Perodua managing director, Aminar Rashid Salleh, the company is not dismissing the possibility of the programme transforming into some kind of a technical collaboration with universities and institutions of higher learning taking part.

He said, a couple of innovations made by the participants of the inaugural Eco Challenge last year are being examined by Perodua engineers to see if they could have any practical application.

“We are encouraged by the enthusiasm and degree of effort put in by the participating teams and there is no reason to think that this programme may not be a long term project or collaboration with our academia,” he said during a Press conference after handing over 12 cars to institutions taking part this year.

He said that 27 universities and institutions of higher learning were invited to submit proposals for an eco-friendly car and they were evaluated and shortlisted to 12 teams.

This year, the teams received a Perodua Viva to be modified or improved for greater fuel efficiency. Perodua also gave them a budget of RM10,000 for the development of their final competition car.

On a similar note, the deputy director general of the Department of Higher Education, Prof Dr Rujhan Mustafa, who graced the hand-over ceremony commended Perodua for the Eco Challenge and said it is a good example of how industry and academia can collaborate for mutual benefit.

He said the ministry is also making efforts to encourage more fundamental research that could result in green technology.

Meanwhile one of Universiti Sains Malaysia's team members, mechanical engineering lecturer Abdul Yamin Saad said that their winning entry relied on both engineering innovation as well as driving technique.

“Our entry was heavier than the minimum weight limit and our driver was also heavier than the minimum but
with the correct driving technique we were able to stretch one litre of fuel,” he said.

USM’s Myvi automatic entry travelled 23.5 kilometres on one litre of fuel while Perodua’s own high-efficiency design study clocked 31 kilometres on the same amount of petrol.

Abdul Yamin said that the higher fuel economy achieved by Perodua’s own car is due to the manual transmission, light weight and extensive aerodynamic modifications.

To watch the video of the car presentation ceremony visit the online version of this story at www.mmail.com.my. You can also see the design and results of the 12 teams that took part last year.

The teams taking part this year are Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Universiti Industri Selangor (Unisel), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM).

Newcomers this year are Universiti Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia-France Institute (UniKL-MFI), Politeknik Sultan Azlan Shah (PSAS) and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UMS). USM, which won last year’s automatic transmission category and Politeknik Ungku Omar (PUO) which won the manual category are also taking part
again.

Following the overwhelming success of the 1st Eco-challenge 2009, Perodua has decided to organize the 2nd Eco-Challenge 2010. The purpose of the Perodua Eco-Challenge is to promote engineering capabilities among students through modification of a vehicle which leads to lower fuel consumption.

A team from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Unimas is one of the twelve (12) shortlisted teams out of the twenty seven (27) participations from the public and private institutions of higher learning. On the 24th February 2010, Deputy Director-General of Higher Education Professor Dr Rujhan Mustafa, on behalf of the Ministry of Higher Education Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khalid bin Nordin has presented the car keys to the representatives of the institutions at Perodua Learning Centre in Rawang. Also present in this event was the Perodua Managing Director, En Aminar Rashid Salleh.

In this handover ceremony, the 12 shortlisted institutions received a sizable contribution from Perodua, which is a Perodua Viva 1.0. The cars worth of RM40,000 each were allocated to the institutions by means of a ballot conducted in the presence of representatives from each institution. In addition to the car, Perodua also gave each institution RM10,000 development funds to be used for modifications of the Perodua Viva.

The race day of Perodua Eco-Challenge 2010 will be held on 26 June 2010 at the Malacca International Motorsport Circuit. In this race, the top prize winner in the automatic and manual transmission categories will receive RM20,000 each, the runners up will receive RM10,000 each while the third place winners will receive RM5,000 each. In the engineering, design and participation category, the winner will be awarded RM10,000 while the second place winner will receive RM5,000 and third place winner will be awarded RM3,000.

Winners of the Perodua Eco-Challenge will be decided by measuring the distance of the “re-engineered” car that capable of travelling using only 1 litre of Petronas Primax95. Points will also be given to teams based on creativity in the modification of the cars, decorations as well as support from the students. As this event day is held within semester break, we would like to invite all UNIMAS Sarawak students who are staying in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malacca, Johor and Negeri Sembilan at that time to come and support the team on the race day. Your support are very much needed to boost the team spirit and to fulfill the criteria for the engineering, design and participation category.

References:

http://www.mmail.com.my/content/28753-peroduas-eco-challenge-breeds-innovation

http://www.motortrader.com.my/NUS/articles/article_2373/page_m.asp