Thrilling Student Victories at This Year’s Shell Eco-marathon Americas Event
April 23, 2009 Kyriaki (Sandy) Venetis 
The Alerion Supermileage team poses with its winning Prototype vehicle, sporting a fuel efficiency of 2,757.1 miles per gallon (1,172.2 kilometers per liter). The team is from Laval University, Quebec, Canada. Photo courtesy of Shell Oil Co.HOUSTON- Months of preparations culminated with triumphs for many innovative student teams at this year’s Shell Eco-marathon Americas event at the Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, Calif.
“We knew coming into the challenge this year that we would have a lot to go up against,” said David Vallee of Laval University, Quebec, Canada, whose team won the grand prize in the event’s Prototype category. With mileage of 2,757.1 miles per gallon (1,172.2 kilometers per liter) the university’s Alerion Supermileage team won a $5,000 grand prize for their school. The team named their vehicle NTF 3.0.
The Prototype category sets minimal design restrictions, allowing teams maximum technical creativity. The goal in this category is to reduce drag and maximize efficiency, which the Alerion team definitely did.