Two university teams will represent the Philippines in the highly anticipated Shell Eco-marathon Asia, Shell's annual event which provides students of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math an avenue to design, build, and operate automotive vehicles to achieve the highest possible fuel efficiency.

De La Salle University's Eco Car Team and Polytechnic University of the Philippines' Hygears will compete against 49 teams from eight other countries in the SEM's Asian leg in Lombok, Indonesia.

Serge Bernal, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. vice-president of corporate relations, encouraged the students to take the opportunity to learn, collaborate, and make friends not just with members of the Philippine teams, but also with those from other countries' teams even as he reminded them that SEM is a competition.

"Make your family, friends, school, and the Philippines proud," he said.

"As a team, we expect the best because we want to surpass our benchmark in testing," said Eunice Nicole Rupisan, manager of DLSU Eco Car Team. "Pilipinas Shell has been helping us from the start, helping us communicate with Shell Global. They've played a big role in getting us far into the competition."

Nicole Tugay, manager of the team PUP Hygears, described joining SEM as an opportunity. "We will experience working in the industry not only in the technical sense, but also in a managerial sense."

The panelists providing practical advice to the teams are SEM alumni Meg Celine Cruz, a Process Data Engineer for Technical Asset Operations under Shell Business Operations; Jericho Paolo Rivera, upstream turn around manager; Jerome Sta. Cruz, Senior Process engineer; and Joven Talape, Process Data Engineer.

"SEM is a great venue to meet people and expand your connections. This is a culmination of your sleepless nights and all your hard work," Cruz said to the students.

Making cars more efficient since 1939, SEM shifted to its current eco-friendly focus in 1985. SEM participants are tasked to design an energy-efficient battery-powered vehicle that can outlast others on a track.

SEM 2022 will be held at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit in Lombok, Indonesia from 11 to 15 October, resuming face-to-face interactions after running virtually for its 2020-2021 season.