Shell Eco Marathon Hopefuls from Bangladesh

Every year, petroleum giant Shell hosts an eco-car competition open to engineering universities and enthusiastic students, titled “Shell Eco Marathon”. Taking place in the Philippines, the competition focuses on eco-friendly urban transportation ideas, asking entrants to innovate and realize their ideas for the future.
While innovation in the automotive sector is quite limited here in Bangladesh, there is no shortage of enthusiastic people willing to give it a shot. The eco-car ideas in Bangladesh are especially thriving in recent years, as evidenced by the man in rural Bangladesh who developed a motorcycle which moves on nothing but air. The engineering universities are also shifting their focus to actual application of what mechanical engineering students learn in the classroom, and in recent years we've seen BUET and other universities step up their automotive game.

A six-member team (“Abhijatrik”) from the Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology are hopeful entrants into the Shell Eco Marathon, having prepared a rudimentary eco-car by themselves. Powered by a 125 cc motorbike engine and using thin profile and width bicycle tires for fuel efficiency and keeping weight down, their eco car looks promising on paper, theoretically managing more than 50km per liter of fuel. A safety conscious frame design and hydraulic braking system makes sure the 3 occupants of the car are kept safe. Their dream of a cost-effective, eco-friendly four-wheeler for the masses might just be realized if they do well in the upcoming Shell Eco Marathon.
We wish them luck in procuring a sponsorship and making it to the Philippines to do our country proud.