Houston Students Represent The Energy Capital Of The World At Shell Eco-marathon Americas 2013

HOUSTON, March 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- They may have the shortest commute to the competition, but three schools from Houston are busy building vehicles they hope will help them go the farthest distance – using the least amount of energy. Local students from the University of Houston, Westside High School and St. John's School will soon join more than 1,000 other students from across the Americas at the seventh annual Shell Eco-marathon Americas competition in Houston April 5-7. Shell Eco-marathon isn't about breaking speed records or racing other teams to the finish, instead, the competition honors the students who deliver the highest miles-per-gallon performance.  

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120917/MM76045LOGO)

Nearly 110 teams from Brazil, Canada, Guatemala, Mexico and the United States will put their supermileage vehicles to the test this year. Once in Houston, the students will all aim to surpass last year's achievement of 2,188 mpg. That impressive mileage was attained by the Mater Dei High School team of Evansville, Ind., who has again registered four vehicles this year in an attempt to defend their title. Still, with Shell Eco-marathon Americas right in their own backyard, the teams from Houston may feel the stakes are the greatest as they look for their chance to claim both the city and the state's first title.

Student competitors come from a variety of backgrounds and experience levels, with novices competing against veteran teams who have been participating since the competition began in the Americas in 2007. But they share a common vision – coming together to create feasible approaches to addressing future energy challenges.

"Shell Eco-marathon is a visible demonstration of how we can all face, head-on, the growing demand for energy worldwide in a responsible way," says Mark Singer, Shell Eco-marathon Global Project Manager. "As more and more schools from across the Americas participate in the challenge each year, it's easy to see that Shell Eco-marathon truly inspires all of us to think about energy efficiency and the ways we can work together to create tomorrow's energy solutions in a practical way today."

The University of Houston team has set several goals for this year's competition, including achieving first place in the UrbanConcept Hydrogen fuel cell category and winning the Best Team Spirit and Design Special Awards.

"We each bring a different skill to the team that will help us build and achieve our goals in the competition," said Adewale Taiwo of the University of Houston's Team Daedalus. "Our team wants to create a realistic vehicle that can be deemed roadworthy while also helping to promote engineering and technology to the next generation of college students."

Returning competitors from Westside High School are excited to see how their vehicles stack up against the others not only on the track, but also in the Design and Technology Innovation Special Award categories. The team will bring their vehicle made from bamboo and other recycled materials back to the competition in hopes of coming out on top.

"We were inspired to build the vehicle from our experience in the Ecology Club at school and by our passion for engineering," said team manager Timothy Huang. "We had a vision of using a high quality renewable resource, like bamboo, as the main component of our vehicle, and we saw it through. We think our innovation can be scaled up to the industrial level, reducing the world's dependence on petroleum based products and in turn lower gasoline prices."

Public Encouraged to Take Part in Fun and Educational Activities
Many high school and college students will be striving to break supermileage records on the track, but Shell Eco-marathon Americas is also expanding off the track. This year, Shell is excited to offer spectators and visitors even more fun and interactive things to do while watching and cheering on the teams at Shell Eco-marathon Americas. The event, which is free and open to the public, is a family-friendly place that offers something for everyone. Spectators are encouraged to visit the George R. Brown Convention Center Friday, April 5 through Sunday, April 7 to meet the students, roam around, learn and play!

One new highlight is the Shell Energy Lab, an interactive exhibit that demonstrates how the work of Shell Eco-marathon Americas participants is just one of many inspiring efforts using innovation to solve energy challenges and keep the world moving in cleaner, more energy efficient ways. Visitors can also play the Shell Smarter Driving Challenge to become one in a million motorists worldwide learning how to drive more efficiently. While this marks the US launch of the global initiative, Shell has already taught more than a quarter of a million drivers to reduce fuel consumption and costs.

While in the convention center, spectators can visit the mPowering mobile recording studio to record their own chart-topper while connecting with young people around the world to share stories, streaming exclusive songs by participating artists, discovering information on important issues, and exploring volunteering opportunities anywhere in the world. Shell is proud to be part of this important effort by the United Nations Foundation.

Spectators can learn what energy and dancing have in common by showing their moves and finding out how much energy a human can generate on a kinetic dance floor. The dance floor will show participants how much power it takes to light up a desk lamp, a household, a football stadium, and even the Eiffel Tower!

In addition to these fun and educational activities, early comers to Shell Eco-marathon Americas will have a chance to win a salt water powered toy car, which they can build and then test on the track in the convention center.

Other displays at Shell Eco-marathon Americas will include Shell's Formula One racing car, the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion race car, and Radio Disney.

Thinking about the Energy Future
Shell knows that the world's population is growing all the time and, with it, so is the global demand for energy. As a result, we need new, sustainable ways to meet the rising demand. So, for Shell Eco-marathon 2013, students are encouraged to be part of the conversation by participating in a new prize category, The Shell Student Energy Challenge.

The new prize category asks student teams to consider the wider energy context that surrounds their fantastic achievements in the mileage challenge. To participate, each school was asked to submit at least one infographic that answers one of three energy-related questions provided by Shell. Submissions for the Americas teams are due by April 1 and the winners will be announced during the awards ceremony at Shell Eco-marathon Americas.

For more information on all 2013 events across the globe, including the complete Americas 2013 roster, schedule and official rules, please visit the Shell Eco-marathon website at www.shell.com/ecomarathon. For an inside look at the trials and tribulations teams face as they prepare for Shell Eco-marathon Americas, check out a new three-part mini-series of films, called "The Road to Houston," which follows several teams as they race to finish their vehicles in time.   

About Shell Oil Company
Shell Oil Company is an affiliate of the Royal Dutch Shell plc, a global group of energy and petrochemical companies with 93,000 employees in more than 90 countries. We deliver a diverse range of energy solutions and petrochemicals to customers worldwide. These include transporting and trading oil and gas, marketing natural gas, producing and selling fuel for ships and planes, generating electricity and providing energy efficiency advice.

We also produce and sell petrochemical building blocks to industrial customers globally, and we are investing in making renewable and lower-carbon energy sources competitive for large-scale use. In the U.S., we operate in 50 states and employ more than 20,000 people delivering energy in a responsible manner.

About Shell Eco-marathon
Shell Eco-marathon is a global program that challenges high school and college student teams to design, build and test the most energy-efficient vehicles. With annual events in the Americas, Europe and Asia, this innovation competition pushes future scientists and engineers to travel the farthest distance using the least amount of energy. Shell Eco-marathon Americas 2013 will take place April 5 – April 7, 2013 on the streets of downtown Houston, the energy capital of the world. Visit www.shell.com/ecomarathon/americas to learn more about this program.

Cautionary Note

The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this press release "Shell", "Shell group" and "Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. ''Subsidiaries'', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this press release refer to companies in which Royal Dutch Shell either directly or indirectly has control, by having either a majority of the voting rights or the right to exercise a controlling influence. The companies in which Shell has significant influence but not control are referred to as "associated companies" or "associates" and companies in which Shell has joint control are referred to as "jointly controlled entities". In this press release, associates and jointly controlled entities are also referred to as "equity-accounted investments". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect (for example, through our 23% shareholding in Woodside Petroleum Ltd.) ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management's expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''anticipate'', ''believe'', ''could'', ''estimate'', ''expect'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'', ''objectives'', ''outlook'', ''probably'', ''project'', ''will'', ''seek'', ''target'', ''risks'', ''goals'', ''should'' and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this press release, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for the Group's products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserve estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including potential litigation and regulatory effects arising from recategorisation of reserves; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2012 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov).  These factors also should be considered by the reader.  Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this press release, March 28, 2013.  Neither Royal Dutch Shell nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) permits oil and gas companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only proved reserves that a company has demonstrated by actual production or conclusive formation tests to be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions.  We use certain terms in this press release that SEC's guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in filings with the SEC.  U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov. You can also obtain these forms from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.

SOURCE Shell Oil Company

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED