Trio have designs on record

THREE Bahraini designers are on the road to testing their technological skills with the best in the world at an international contest staged in the United States.

They will be taking part in the annual super-mileage competition being held in Marshall, Michigan, tomorrow and Friday.
They will be competing against 32 teams from across Canada, the US, Latin America and India in an event organised by the Society of Automotive Engineering.
Adham Mohammed, 30, Abdul Gani, 26 and Bader Mohammed, 23, members of Bahrain Defence Force (BDF), are studying for Higher National Diploma in the Mechanical and Motor Vehicle Division at the Bahrain Training Institute (BTI).
They designed and built the car from scratch after been given only an engine in March, this year, at the start of the project.
The trainees, who all come from Hamad Town, told GulfWeekly they were “thrilled” to have completed the challenge and were “excited” by their forthcoming American challenge.
They are the first in the Gulf to take part in the competition. Their amazing machine was shipped out last week and they followed shortly afterwards with BTI’s senior lecturer and project supervisor M Mahendhran.
Mr Mahendhran told the GulWeekly that the car project was truly a labour of love for the “totally committed trainees” who put in long hours to complete the project on time.
The challenge was to build a gas-powered, fuel-efficient vehicle and take a shot at beating the world’s fuel economy record.
Mr Mahendhran said: “It is the first time participants from the Middle East and North Africa region have been invited to be part of the US-based competition,” said Mr Mahendhran.
“This project has helped trainees become more sensitive to the environmental issues as well as develop important project management skills.
“The participating vehicles will be powered by a small four-cycle lawn-mower engine and must complete six laps of a 2.4km track (with hills) with a minimum speed of 24kmph.
“Fuel efficiency will be calculated by measuring the car’s fuel consumption against the distance travelled.”
As Bader is the lightest of the trio he will be driving the car in the contest.
Mr Mahendhran said that he was very proud that the trainees from Bahrain were taking part. He added: “It’s a big achievement – not only for BTI, Bahrain but the whole Arab world.
“The trainees have been very enthusiastic and totally committed. We also received full support and encouragement from BTI director Hameed Saleh and the Motor Vehicle unit at the institute.”
He said the competition was important to increase public awareness of fuel economy and sustainability.
SAE International has more than 90,000 members in 97 countries and is dedicated to advancing mobility engineering worldwide through public awareness programmes that promote vehicle safety, maintenance and energy conservation.

By Sahar Mulla
sahar.mulla@gulfweekly.com