Local High School Team to Compete in Singapore

A 13-member team of students from City of Bogo Science and Arts Academy (CBSAA) is set to compete in the Shell Eco-Marathon (SEM) Asia 2017 in Singapore this March.

Team Masiyentista will be competing against 100 teams in Singapore from March 16-19 to push the boundaries of energy efficiency.

It is one of the 14 teams to represent the Philippines in this internationally-renowned event and the only team to represent the whole Visayas region.

SEM is an annual competition sponsored by Shell that challenges student teams to design, build, test and drive the most fuel-efficient vehicles. It is held around the world with events in Europe, America and Asia with the Asian leg to be held in Singapore this year.

Team Masiyentista will participate in the Prototype-Internal Combustion Engine category with a gasoline-run vehicle, affectionately called “Labyug”, after a mode of transportation that locals formerly used.

It has a carbon fiber exterior and is shaped like a raindrop to allow it to cut through air as efficiently as possible.

The team is confident that Labyug will finish with a record fuel efficiency of not lower than 200 km/l.

They competed last year in SEM Asia 2016 held in Manila where they won 5th Place in the Best University Launch despite being the only participating secondary school as other teams were composed of engineering students, owing to the technical background of conceptualizing and building the vehicles.

The students hail from CBSAA, a public school with extensive support from the local government.

Chastren Soon, team’s faculty adviser, said that their participation in SEM Asia 2017 marks a milestone for CBSAA in molding innovative leaders and globally competitive students, creating a bridge for students to transcend a world of mere blueprints to actual application.

For his part, Bogo City Mayor Carlo Martinez said that “SEM Asia 2017 is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the ingenuity, knowledge and skills of our young Bogohanons on the global stage.” (Bogo City PIO)