With Duct Tape and Determination, Mater Dei Seeks to Defend Its Title
In order to gain easy access to work on the engine between heats, students from Mater Dei High School of Evansville, Indiana, typically build their Shell Eco-marathon cars to open like unhinged clamshells. However, as coach Dan Ritter explains, duct tape works surprisingly well at holding everything together on the track.
It seems to have done quite well, as Mater Dei last year turned in first place performance in every category it entered, beating out universities with large engineering programs. (See: “Mater Dei, Louisiana Tech Score Eco-marathon Victories”) Mater Dei’s prototype vehicle had a best run of 2,188.6 mpg (926.4 km/l), and its street-legal urban concept vehicle achieved 611 mpg (258.6 km/l). And Mater Dei’s prototype gasoline vehicle (above)
