An Automotive Engineering project to electrify a tuk-tuk became a labour of love for one lecturer and his students – as well as a testament to the benefits of problem-based learning.
Tuk-tuks are an iconic part of most streetscapes in Asia, Africa and Central America; so, unfortunately, are the pollutants and noise they emit. For two Unitec Bachelor of Applied Technology students, looking for a final-year industry project in Automotive Engineering, this problem was ripe with challenges and real-world sustainability benefit. So Donald Nderingo and Jay Kumar decided to import and electrify a tuk-tuk.
“We wanted to see how hard or easy it was to do. We read about electric vehicles a lot, but you don’t usually get to be part of a project where you can see it tangibly come together,” says Nderingo.
Getting a tuk-tuk to their workshop turned out to be just the first of many challenges the team and their lecturer, Dr Roman Kudin, faced on the road to success.
Read all about the project in the summer 2017 issue of Advance.
Find out more about the Bachelor of Applied Technology – Automotive Engineering.
