http://serve.me.nus.edu.sg/ecocar/cars.html



http://newshub.nus.edu.sg/headlines/...ar_20Apr09.php

[SIZE=3]NUS launches first Singapore-designed, eco-friendly urban concept car
[/SIZE]20 April 2009

A team of NUS Faculty of Engineering students have designed and built an eco-friendly urban concept car - the first of its kind in Singapore. With water as the only emission and powered by hydrogen fuel cell, the Kent Ridge Urban Concept Ecocar (KRUCE) will have a zero carbon emission rating and an excellent noise damping feature.

The car's aerodynamic structure and power source was built from scratch by 10 students from NUS' Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering. The body of the car was designed and fabricated in NUS by the team from the Design Incubation Centre (DIC) of the NUS School of Design and Environment in close collaboration with the engineering students.

Expected to outlast its predecessor NUS-ECO1, the team began the design phase in August last year, working closely with Gashub Technologies. With a customised hydrogen fuel cell power plant that drives an electric wheel hub motor, the team was able to ensure that the single-seater KRUCE achieves twice the energy efficiency of conventional internal combustion engines. KRUCE not only has the advantage speed and distance, but the cell-like design of the car also has a lower aerodynamic drag. This allows for easy access to the mechanical components for troubleshooting.

The team of students behind the creation of KRUCE will represent NUS in the world-renowned Shell Eco-marathon Europe competition to be held in May this year in Germany. They will be competing against 66 teams from over 30 different countries in the Urban Concept category. The team hopes to improve their overall 18th ranking achieved in France in 2008.

A model project for the new NUS Design-Centric Engineering Curriculum (DCC), this urban concept eco-car project typifies the approach that will be taken in the curriculum. DCC is an alternative learning method offered for the first time by a university in Asia and it is available to the incoming cohort of the Faculty of Engineering in the new academic year. Working in teams throughout their degree programme, students will be exposed to solving real world challenges encompassing multiple engineering and design disciplines. They will also be learning critical skills in leadership, team dynamics, problem solving and implementation.