The 1^st MIU Chem eCar Competition 2015 was organized by Manipal International University’s School of Science and Engineering (SoSE) in two stages -  the Preliminary Internal Competition on 1^st April 2015 and the Finals on 8^th April 2015.

Dr. Soundarajan Krishnan, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, was the Event Coordinator for the Chem eCar Competition 2015. This event brought together engineering students of various disciplines to showcase their abilities, creativity, and innovativeness. Sustainability was also considered by the judges as well as Safety, Health, and Environment (SHE).

The objective of the competition was to design a shoebox-size car that is operated by a mechanism of chemical propulsion and follows certain guidelines and specifications. Each team was required to make a car which could strike a ball directly into the goalpost or drive the ball onto a side wall and deflect it into the goalpost. It gave them an opportunity to think, interact with peers and lecturers, and apply theoretical concepts and knowledge which they have acquired thus far in a practical manner. The whole exercise gave them hands-on practical experience and enhanced their problem-solving skills by encountering different situations while preparing for the competition.

The participants had to tackle problems involving cost of production, ability to carry a pre-specified water load, and the requirement of being eco-friendly. The participants had to exhibit A1-size posters and were expected to demonstrate their capabilities by scientific methods as well as use creativity and innovation to design and fabricate a Chem eCar.

Five teams, consisting of 20 engineering students in total, participated in this event and MIU Team 1, comprising of Thiruvendran A/L Mahadevan (Team Leader from Mechanical), Tay Kee Ren (Mechanical), Thanaseelan A/L Tamilarasan (Chemical) and Gobikrishna A/L Gnanavel (Chemical) were declared as the winners.

The 10^th Malaysia Chem eCar Competition 2015 was jointly hosted by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) at Dewan Canselor Tun Abdul Razak (DECTAR), UKM at Bangi on 10^th and 11^th April, 2015. The event was presided by Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation YB Datuk Dr. Abu Bakar bin Mohamad Diah, President of The Institution of Engineers Malaysia Dato’ Ir. Lim Chow Hock, Chairman of IEM Organization Committee Engr. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nooryusmiza Yusoff, Dean of UKM’sFaculty of Engineering and Build Environment Prof. Dato’ Ir. Dr. Abdul Wahab Mohammad, and Mohd. Ruzaini Mohd. Rashid, Director of 10^th Malaysia Chem eCar Competition, UKM.

This prestigious competition was first held in 2005 at UKM, Bangi and, ever since then, this competition has been organized by different Universities and Colleges on an annual basis. The theme for this year’s Chem eCar Competition was “The Guardian of Nature”. This theme promotes awareness in safeguarding the environment for a better tomorrow by balancing technological progress with environmental sustainability.

The winning participants were expected to showcase their latest Chem eCar prototypes using green power, stopping mechanism, and adept designs - thus overcoming the two major challenges which are stopping accuracy test (minimum distance from the front-most end of the car to the finish line) and goal-scoring ability by applying the principles of momentum transfer.

About 52 teams from 20 Colleges and Universities from Malaysia as well as Indonesia participated in this competition. Four teams out of five were selected from MIU to participate in the Finals at UKM based on their performance in the Poster category, Goal-Shooting category, and Maximum Distance Covered category during the 1^st MIU Chem eCar Competition 2015. The 4 teams from MIU, led by Dr. Soundarajan Krishnan, performed well but had to be satisfied with participation certificates due to the remarkable display by more experienced teams from other institutions.