MANILA // For three teams of students from the UAE, competing in the Shell Eco-marathon is just a beginning.
They have travelled to the Philippines to compete against 126 other teams to find out who can build the most fuel-efficient car – but ultimately, the goal is to apply the spirit of innovation at home.
“Maybe one of these students will go on to design the car of the future,” said Shell’s chief of human resources, Hugh Mitchell.
The eco-marathon began on Friday; the Manila stop is the first in a three-phase world tour.
“To me, innovation means creativity and working with what you have,” said Ali Akl, 22, the Eco Stallion team leader from the American University of Sharjah. He said all of the materials used to build their car were items already available in the university’s mechanical engineering lab. “So for us, we have built our diesel prototype with only Dh5,000.”
Mohammed Al Hammadi, a student from the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) at Ruwais, is already incorporating energy efficiency in his everyday life by taking public transportation.
Every weekend he drives from Abu Dhabi to Dubai and parks his car at the first metro station. “I’m carless for the entire weekend,” he said. He encourages his friends to join him.
Saeed Al Shamsi, the leader of a second HCT team, Without Limits, said there were many techniques to minimise fuel consumption and save money at the same time. “Now we need to think about fuel consumption more than before,” he said.
It is the second year the team has participated in the Shell challenge – it came third last year. Mr Al Shamsi said they made many mistakes that time. However, the challenge and the other teams inspired Without Limits to make a return visit to the event to hopefully pull out an even better performance.
“Since we were the first guys in Ruwais to do this, we are trying to keep notes for the guys that will come after us,” Mr Al Shamsi said. “We hope it will continue to get better each year.”
The eco-marathon began as a friendly bet between Shell scientists in Illinois to see who could drive their car the furthest on one gallon of fuel in 1939. It has turned into a global event to encourage engineering students to explore new techniques for fuel efficiency.
Illac Diaz, the executive director of MyShelter, a Filipino organisation that promotes green technology, said the event holds promise for a better future.
“There is a genius in the youth and we just have to pull them out,” he said.
lgraves@thenational.ae
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World Test Championship table
1 India 71 per cent
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4 England 64.1 per cent
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6 West Indies 33.3 per cent
7 South Africa 30 per cent
8 Sri Lanka 16.7 per cent
9 Bangladesh 0
Results
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Company%20Profile
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
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The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
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COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
The specs: 2018 Opel Mokka X
Price, as tested: Dh84,000
Engine: 1.4L, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: Six-speed auto
Power: 142hp at 4,900rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 1,850rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L / 100km
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
Origin
Dan Brown
Doubleday
