Higher Colleges of Technology Sharjah Colleges to Develop their First ‘MADE IN THE UAE' Shell Eco-Marathon Vehicle

UAE National Students From HCT’s Sharjah Colleges to Join 5 Universities in the 2015 Shell Eco-marathon Asia Competition 

Sharjah, UAE - 17 May, 2014 - The Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT)’s Sharjah Colleges and Shell signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today under which Shell will support engineering students to build a fuel-efficient “Made in the UAE” car, enabling them to compete at the 2015 global Shell Eco-marathon challenge. HCT’s Sharjah Colleges will be joining for the first time students from other UAE and regional universities at the innovation driven challenge taking place in Manila, Philippines in July 2015.

The MOU was signed by Dr. Richard Gibb, Executive Dean of Faculty of Engineering Technology and Science at the Higher Colleges of Technology and Xavier Hery, Shell General Manager - Shell Markets (Middle East) Limited, in the presence of other executives from HCT, Sharjah Colleges and Shell. 

“Shell’s Eco-marathon campaign presents our students with a fantastic opportunity through which they apply their engineering and project management skills to an innovation project with global scope.  The Shell Eco-marathon platform provides our students the opportunity to contribute first hand to the future of energy in the UAE.  We look forward to Sharjah Colleges’ first fuel efficient Eco-marathon car and wish the students the best of luck in the months ahead.” said Dr Gibb.

“We are very pleased to have HCT’s Sharjah Colleges on board for the 2015 Shell Eco-marathon Asia competition, a testament to the HCT and UAE’s foresight and vision with respect to energy sustainability. The Shell Eco-marathon competition provides students from the region with an opportunity to showcase their design and engineering skills to the world.  The students from the UAE will be given the opportunity to develop their engineering and project management skills and apply them towards the development of their country, as they become valuable contributors to the economy.    Our technical teams will be with the students every step of the way on their journey to Manila next year,” said Xavier Hery, Shell General Manager - Shell Markets (Middle East) Limited. 

The Shell Eco-marathon challenge is designed to encourage and foster innovative ideas about fuel-efficiency, smarter mobility and the future of transport among high school and university students. By 2050, the number of cars on the road is expected to triple and a variety of fuels and technologies will be needed to meet the growing demand for mobility while limiting CO2 emissions. 

Sharjah College is now set to join 5 other teams from the UAE as well as a number of teams from the region, including Qatar, Egypt and Lebanon, to compete in this global challenge.