In a bid to find ways to change the future of transportation, six Grade Nine Reddam Bedfordview technology learners designed and entered an eco-friendly car in the Shell Challenge.
The competition is the domain of university students and the learners finished in sixth place.
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Shell Eco-Marathon challenges student teams from around the world to design, build and test energy-efficient vehicles.
With annual events in America, Europe and Asia, the winners are the teams that go the farthest distance using the least amount of energy.
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The race consists of various attempts, over four laps. The winning team is the one that covers the greatest distance in one kilowatt hour.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing for the Reddam team.
Plagued by challenges, last-minute changes throughout the event and with one remaining attempt left, the team rose to the occasion when they made a few hasty calculations which saw their strategy come together.
“We calculated the speed and times for each lap as accurately as we could. After the last run, we brought our car back in and stared expectantly at the board for what felt like ages to see how we had performed. We had done brilliantly. We had improved our best attempt by over 10 km. I don’t think anyone expected us to finish at 134km per KW/hour,” said team member, Nathan Calitz.
“We returned to the pits in an ecstatic mood anxious to see where we had been placed on the leader board, only to find that we had ultimately finished sixth. What’s more, we were over the moon when we received news that we had won the Perseverance Award. Our plan is to return next year and really show the competition what we can do,” he said.
Team sponsors were Projects Concern and DP Innovations. The team members were Nathan Calitz, Ryan Scrimgeour, Micale Govender, Aleandro Serralheiro, Liam Flynn and Liam Bolton.
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