Shell Eco Marathon Asia

A global challenge with sustainability at its core, the Shell Eco-marathon (SEM) is a competition where students research, design, and build fuel-efficient cars. SEM Team Monash has been participating in the Asia leg of the competition annually since 2013 to positive results, with the inclusion of hundreds of students from different years and backgrounds e.g. mechanical engineering, electrical and computer system engineering, chemical engineering, and mechatronics engineering, and with multiple titles wins. Notably, first-place finishes in 2014 and 2016 where Prototype vehicles using Gas-to-liquid (GTL) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) used the least amount of fuel to travel the given distance in their category. In 2021, the team won 1st place in Shell Eco-marathon Global Autonomous Programming Challenge.

The competition allows students to pick up a wide range of technical knowledge and soft skills, from hands-on workmanship to finance, project management, marketing, and fundraising activities. Membership is open to all engineering disciplines as well as other schools in Monash University Malaysia. This allows a diverse and engaging team experience with a real-world scale project as the common goal.

The team has developed cars powered by GTL, Gasoline, Ethanol, CNG, and most recently a Hydrogen Fuel Cell. The latter marks the new outlook of the team to move away from internal combustion engines and innovate in the electric vehicle space. The team is also currently working on a vehicle for the new Autonomous Urban Concept Vehicle category in the competition, where a driverless car will be developed to complete various challenges such as track following, obstacle avoidance, and parking. With a dedication to progress and a mission to community and sustainability engagement, SEM Team Monash strives to be a world-class group of problem solvers that soar both in and out of the competition.

For membership and sponsorship inquiries, please contact Dr. Darwin Gouwanda darwin.gouwanda@monash.edu.