A student team from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) is building a hydrogen driven vehicle. The car will compete in the annual student competition, Shell Eco-Marathon, in Lausitz, Germany on 7-9 May 2009. DNV is the main sponsor of the NTNU team.
“DNV’s vision is to make a global impact for a sustainable future. The DNV Fuel Fighter is a symbol of our dual efforts towards developing technologies and solutions for the new energy economy, as well as our firm belief in the further investment in human capital. Competent people is the most important resources we have, and we appreciate the cooperation with the students and the universities,” says President and CEO of DNV, Henrik O. Madsen.
The race
The principle of the Shell Eco-marathon is simple: to design and build a vehicle that uses the least amount of fuel to travel the farthest distance. Conventional fuels such as diesel, petrol/gasoline and liquid petroleum gas, as well as alternatives like GTL, solar, ethanol, hydrogen and biofuels can power the vehicles. The DNV sponsored car will run on hydrogen, and the goal is to beat the current world record and win its category by driving at least 1000km on the energy equivalent of one litre of petrol.
The name “DNV Fuel Fighter” was suggested by DNV employee Milind Aundhkar, who has won a trip to watch the race in Germany.
Cooperation with NTNU
DNV and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement in 2008. The agreement entails that DNV finance ten professorships and assist NTNU by providing guest speakers, contributing to student projects, such as the DNV Fuel Fighter, and providing professional collaboration on many levels.
This is the largest university agreement DNV has ever entered into.
An underlying reason for entering into the agreement with NTNU is the growing concern that technological and scientific studies are being overlooked by politicians in Norway.
“We recruit engineers from all over the world. China, India, Singapore and many other states with technological colleges and universities are beginning to lead the way in the most important subject areas. There are many other countries with fewer resources that put more emphasis on higher education and research than Norway,” says Henrik O. Madsen.
