Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta flutters again internationally, especially in Asia. It is because Bengawan Team which is fronted by some students of Engineering Faculty successfully becomes the runner up of Shell Eco-Marathon Asia 2016 in the category of urban diesel. Besides, there is another team competes in the category of urban petrol and gets the fourth place. This competition of best cars with fuel efficiency followed by 17 Asian and Australian countries is held at Luneta Park, Philippines, Thursday-Saturday (March 3-6, 2016).
The manager of Bengawan Team, Muhammad Andy Anzi, says that there are two things should be noted in this competition, efficiency and safety. The thing about safety that he talks about is regarding to bulkhead part, it is a divider between wheelhouse and engine area. “In Malang (the competition which was joined last year—Red.) still gives a tolerance if there is any small holes. It is different in this Shell Eco-Marathon since they do not allow it and the holes should be covered with a heat-resistant material,” he explains. (Read also: KMHE 2015, Bengawan Team UNS Achieve Second Position)
Before doing the race to test the fuel efficiency, the urban car of Bengawan Team named SAMUDRA 3rd should pass car examination session to check whether or not it is in accordance with the safety standards of Shell.
Andy has told about how if there is a car which does not conform to the standards that have been defined. He says that the team whose car does not conform to the standards should replace the materials as requested by the committee even though they do not bring complete equipments. Bengawan Team is one of teams which is often asked for help by participants from other countries because of its readiness in terms of equipments and material. Mentioning about the competition’s atmosphere, he says that it is not a big deal. “Yes we are competing, but our goal is the same that we want to create a technology product which has fuel efficiency, and also aims to save the world from crisis of energy,” he explains.
After taking the examination session including checking the car’s weight, dimension, turning radius, seatbelt, braking, driver’s eyesight, driver’s in-and-out access, etcetera. SAMUDRA 3rd Generation does the race for 6 times as far as 12 kilometers to be taken in less than 29 minutes. In the race session, Bengawan Team manages to record the best result 139 km/liter. Meanwhile, the first winner is Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) whose result is 249 km/liter.
For the category of urban petrol, Bengawan Team which gets the fourth place records its result of 104 km/liter. Meanwhile, the first to the third winners successively record their best results of 275 km/liter, 159 km/liter, and 109 km/liter.
One of the team members, Nur Anisa, expresses her gratitude to UNS. “We are really grateful because UNS always support us for doing this research. Hopefully in the future there are more and more students who want to care about the sustainability of the energy in the future by continuing what Bengawan Team has done so far,” she says. [](anggra.red.uns.ac.id)
