Turkish students create fuel-efficient pride of Turkey

This new vehicle was created by members of the Sakarya University Advanced Technologies Implementation Group (SAİTEM), who rolled up their sleeves in an effort to construct Europe's most fuel-efficient vehicle. SAHIMO did manage to leave its Turkish competitors in the dust, while coming in third across Europe last year. Able to go 568 kilometers on just one liter of hydrogen, SAHİMO is the pride of Turkey.

The success by this group of Sakarya University students comes as the world enters further into the 21st century, an era many scientists have already begun to term the "age of energy." Interestingly, this latest hydrogen-powered car, SAHİMO, comes in the wake of a previous project by SAİTEM members, a solar powered vehicle they called the "SAGUAR."

SAHİMO was voted the third-most fuel efficient vehicle in Europe in the 26th Shell Eco Marathon in 2008. Achieving a distance of 568 kilometers on just one liter of hydrogen, SAHİMO would theoretically be able to travel from Turkey's eastern region of Iğdır to Edirne in the west -- a distance of around 1,744 kilometers -- on just three liters of hydrogen.

SAHİMO, which cost $170,000 to build, weighs only 110 kilograms. The effort to create as lightweight a vehicle as possible means that SAHIMO is made up of 90 percent carbon fiber materials. This environmentally friendly hydrogen vehicle bears the license plate "90 SAHİMO 54."

Turkish universities with sufficient budgets have been participating in Europe-based contests aiming to encourage competitors to creating and develop alternative energy technologies for the past 26 years. Interestingly, though more prestigious Turkish universities like Boğazıcı Üniversitesi and Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) have entered these competitions over the past years, it has been the less well known Sakarya University which has been most successful. The president of Sakarya University's SAİTEM club, Fazlı Melemez, notes that despite the university's less-ample budget, students there have more-than-sufficient knowledge to make up for a lack of funds. He also notes that larger projects undertaken by his group do need sponsorship and support for their research and development efforts.

Melemez, a fourth-year student in the engineering department at Sakarya University, says: "Right now we are preparing for the Global Green Challenge contest, which will take place in Australia in October. This contest takes place once every two years, and is more prestigious. We are hoping to raise our record from 568 kilometers on one liter of hydrogen up to a full 1,000 kilometers on one liter, and we believe we can do it. But of course, there will be great cargo and logistic expenses involved with this, as well as ticket costs for the students going to the contest. From this perspective, we do need logistical support. We have no doubt that we will bring smiles to the faces of those who support us." At this point, it should also be noted that SAİTEM is planning on working on non-piloted aircraft for the national defense industry in a few years. They are currently in talks with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) regarding these plans.

The work done by SAİTEM these days began originally as homework for two students at Sakarya University in 2003; today research and development is carried out by a 40-member group. The group divides its workload into three basic parts, with students responsible for technical-mechanical work, sponsorships-institutional work and press promotion work. One student, Mehmet Burak Mısırlı, is a third-year student in Sakarya University's Metallurgy Engineering program; he helps out in the technical-mechanical section of SAİTEM. Meanwhile, Aybike Zeynep Çakır, one of only eight female students in SAİTEM and a first-year student at the university, explained that she does voluntary press promotional work for SAİTEM.