24 Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) students will represent Malaysia at the World Solar Car Competition which will be held in Adelaide, Australia, from 22 to 29 October.
Berita Harian reported that the group will be accompanied by the Team’s Chief Advisor, Professor Dr Azli Abd Razak and they will bring along with them the Keris 5th Generation Eco Photon Solar Car (KerisGen5) which was launched today.
Azli who is also the Head of Mechanical Engineering Studies at UiTM, said the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge 2023 involved a race from Darwin to Adelaide for a distance of 3,000 kilometers (km).
We leave on 1 October, and the race will be on 22 October, because before the race, KerisGen5 needs to go through the inspection process to ensure it is safe in any situation, especially during the race. We went there early to test drive our solar car because the weather in Australia and Malaysia is different. Later we will know what preparations need to be improved.
UiTM Head of Mechanical Engineering Studies Dr Azli Abd Razak
He said their target is to be among the 10 best teams in Southeast Asia and added that they’re not only competing with small teams but against bigger rivals such as Poland and Japan.
Commenting on KerisGen5, Azli said that the solar was the work of 30 students who are also members of the Eco Photon Association, the Eco Photon College of Engineering Student Association.
This is the fifth generation we created with the latest aerodynamic shape changes. This time the speed of our solar car is faster. If before we could do 100 km per hour, this time we hope we can do better.
UiTM Head of Mechanical Engineering Studies Dr Azli Abd Razak
He said that their solar car was built at a cost of less than RM1 million – around RM800,000 – and was built by the students themselves
