Taq Balam, Guatemala
Winner: Spirit of Shell Eco-marathon Americas Award
When the global pandemic hit, Taq Balam quickly set out to help their community. Some team members were part of their University effort to help create an innovative mechanical ventilator to assist critical COVID-19 patients, while others developed a proposal for plastic bags that included a chemical to help eliminate the COVID-19 virus.
Recognizing the difficulties that some of their peers faced, the team also organized a fundraising campaign to ensure these students could continue to keep up their studies at the University during the pandemic.
Together with their faculty advisor, the team also transformed bioethanol that was used as fuel for their prototype vehicle into hand sanitizer, made on site at the university from renewable resources, which the team donated to a nursing home in Guatemala City.
Watch the Spirit of Shell Eco-marathon Americas Stories
Why the judges believed they deserved to win?
“The judges were impressed by the team’s ability to re-focus their skills with an approach that embodies the Spirit of Shell Eco-marathon. Their dedicated work has raised awareness, provided education and protected people.”
Winning teams
Team Unilag, Nigeria
In the face of adversity, the team revised their strategy and set up an online hub to help inspire young people in their community and to help address the energy problems of Nigeria.
Team Apatte 62, Indonesia
Along with the Task Force of Universitas Brawijaya, the team developed a remote-control robot that can help cleanse surrounding areas by emitting UV rays to help reduce the risk of contamination from viruses such as COVID-19.
Team TIM UPS INSA, France
The students created an ‘open source Shell Eco-marathon prototype’ complete with software, written plans and step-by-step tutorials to support other teams design their own low-cost electric prototype vehicle for future track events.
Shortlisted teams
Team Kiri Fan, Argentina
Together with the State and Volkswagen, team members created and distributed 1,000 face shields to assist Argentina’s healthcare service.
Drop Team, Brazil
The team adapted their 3D printers and other equipment originally used to develop parts of their prototype vehicle to produce face shields which they distributed to the local community.
Team Bearcat Motorsports, USA
When a devastating F3 tornado hit their town Ruston, Louisiana and left their 3,000 square-foot workshop in ruins, this team selflessly stepped up to support their local community in the clean-up.
Eco-Runner Team Delft, The Netherlands
Embodying the spirit of collaboration, Eco-Runner Team Delft partnered with KON, a team in Lima, Peru to form an advisory board to share their knowledge and support this team starting on out on their Shell Eco-marathon journey.
ITS Team Sapuangin, Indonesia
The team put their skills to good use and developed initiatives to improve air circulation quality on public transport and conducted research into automatic virus sterilization in urban vehicles.
Semeru Team, Indonesia
After a robbery at the university, the team created a night patrol to protect theirs and other team’s equipment. They also used 3D printing to produce face shields.
The Spirit of Shell Eco-marathon Award
This award celebrates what makes Shell Eco-marathon so special: the desire to come together to overcome barriers to progress. The Spirit of Shell Eco-marathon Award showcases the spirit of collaboration, empathy, finding solutions and using skills and talents for the good. To watch the ceremony to see how we honoured the shortlisted teams and announced the winners, click here.
The Spirit of Shell Eco-marathon Stories
Beyond the track and technical elements of the competition there are the people, our student teams who are the heart and soul of Shell Eco-marathon. To honour their passion, determination and true spirit, their real life stories have been captured in their own words. To watch the film of the shortlisted teams and find out more on their incredible stories, click here.