Spotlight: Eco-runner
Eco-Runner Team Delft has a daunting goal, to build an efficient city car powered by hydrogen. Their vision of promoting a sustainable future through this goal is realized again and again each year, by designing and building a city-car from scratch. Eco-Runner’s team changes every year as it is made up of students (currently a group of 23) from TU Delft. The most recent team started in August 2020 on the Eco-Runner XI. Previously, teams have competed in Shell’s Eco-marathon Prototype Class but since last year the teams have shifted to competing in the Urban Concept Class. This new challenge allows for a more practical vehicle that is closer to modern city cars and that can bring us a step closer to a future with sustainable mobility.
We sat down with Lotte Borstlap, Project and Finance Manager, and Inge Schut, PR manager at Eco-Runner Team Delft, to learn more about their history, ambitions, and what they are looking for in the TPY community. Starting in 2005, Eco-Runner has been stationed at TU Delft (with a physical workspace during non-COVID times). Next to all engineering departments, their operations department is focused on contributing to a sustainable future as stated in their vision. They have created immense amounts of knowledge sharing including publishing a podcast, posting articles, and recording videos with current team members. They also plan to create an entrepreneurial project this summer with the idea to have different teams of students create small sustainable businesses with continued guidance from partners of Eco-Runner at Buccaneer Delft.
Eco-Runner’s largest current challenge, as with many companies and organizations, was having to manage remote teams and being unable to work in a physical location together. The space in the Innovation and Scale-up Center at TPY allows for the production team to come together and work on the total assembly of the Eco-Runner XI car. Eco-Runner is already involved with other TPY associated companies such as KVE Composites, the environment and the ability to collaborate with other companies and to get inspired by each other is what is most appealing to them. Eco-Runner is currently looking for interesting speakers, cooperation opportunities, advice, and tools within the TPY community.
