Students Build Hydrogen-Powered Car for Eco-Marathon

A team of Tech students spent part of spring semester building an ultra-fuel-efficient vehicle for the Shell Eco-Marathon. The team took the vehicle, built in just six weeks, to Detroit, Michigan, to go up against universities from around the world.

The Shell Eco-Marathon has students build vehicles with fuel efficiencies of thousands of miles per gallon. The Tech Eco-Marathon team was founded as a student organization in fall 2016 and spent months leading up to the competition raising funds for the endeavor, leaving only six weeks for actual construction. Still, the Tech team was one of only six hydrogen-based prototype teams to pass a stringent technical inspection at the competition.

“I am extremely proud of our founding class that had the willpower and dedication to put in long hours at the shop,” said Vivek Sandhu, president of Eco-Marathon at Georgia Tech and a mechanical engineering major. This was the first time Tech has fielded a team for this competition.

This summer, students from Eco-Marathon will table at FASET to recruit new students to the team. The team will start building its next car this fall.

“With the administrative framework largely in place, we will move our focus to winning the competition.” The team will also host workshops for students on skills such as machining and welding. All students are invited to get involved.

See the car in action, and learn more about the team here.