Two teams from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at American University of Sharjah (AUS) won honors at the Third UAE Global Hybrid Electric Challenge held in Al Ain on November 14 and 15. The competition featured 11 teams from seven UAE universities competing on the design, construction and performance of a small, one person hybrid electric vehicle.

AUS team, Scuderia Ghepardo, consisting of students Amr Abd Elsalam, Hassan Harazeen, Mohamed Khallaf, Hesham Abdelmoniem, Kamal Ahmad and Mohammad Rami Salamin, received awards for Overall Third Place, Third Place in the Day 2 Hybrid Electric Race and the Innovation Award. The second AUS team, G-Force, comprised students Mohamed Al Zarooni, Majid Alzarooni, Suhail Alablam, Khalid Al-Ali, Abdulla Alawadhi and Hazeem Rashid Almansouri. It placed second in the Day 1 All Electric Race and also won the Sportsmanship Award.

Accodring to its website, the Global Hybrid Electric Challenge is a hands-on educational program for institutions of higher learning with engineering, science, technology and business management programs. Student teams apply engineering design principles and strategy to construct and race full-size electric and hybrid-electric cars. The primary goal of the competition is to provide a hands-on environment in which the students apply what they learn in the classroom to devise real-world solutions.