Monash hosts STEM Racing regional finals
Group photo of the participants and attendees of the Monash STEM Racing Central Regional Finals Competition 2026.
The university welcomed 240 secondary school students from across Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Putrajaya for the Monash STEM Racing Central Regional Finals Competition 2026, held on 26 and 27 August 2026.
Co-hosted with STEM Racing Malaysia, the competition featured teams from 40 schools in challenges involving technical design, innovation, enterprise, and racing. The event gave participants an opportunity to apply science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) concepts while engaging with university academics and students.
Among the participating teams, a team from SMK Convent Bukit Nanas secured third place and qualified for the national competition. The team was mentored by Dr Lim Fang Sheng, Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Monash University Malaysia, and Tharuma Nathan Hari Krishnan, a PhD student at the university, who also served as the event’s Technical and Event Coordinator.
Group photo of the winners of the competition. The team that secured third place, team ERMYNX from SMK Convent Bukit Nanas, is on the bottom right of the group photo, wearing white pants.
Over the two days, participants combined their engineering knowledge with enterprise skills through the competition’s technical and racing activities. The university’s engineering lecturers and senior undergraduate members of Monash Motorsport served as judges in the Technical and Enterprise categories, alongside representatives from industry and education. Their involvement connected students with academic and practical perspectives on engineering, giving participants exposure to the approaches used to assess technical and enterprise work.
Beyond the competition, the Future Student Opportunity team introduced participants to Monash’s engineering courses, study opportunities and selected university facilities. These activities helped students connect their interest in STEM with potential pathways into higher education and gain a closer understanding of the university learning environment. The outreach also generated 212 prospective student leads, comprising 152 online submissions and 60 paper forms.
The event was supported by academic and professional staff, with three key advisers from Monash University Malaysia: Professor Anthony Guo, Head of the School of IT and Engineering, Professor Hung Yew Mun, Head of the Mechanical Engineering program, and Dr Lim Fang Sheng. STEM Racing Malaysia contributed the competition framework, requirements and coordination.
Monash undergraduates played a substantial role in planning and delivering the event. Their responsibilities included participant coordination, venue preparation, team movement, logistics and volunteer support, and assisting with awards and closing activities.
By bringing competition, mentoring and university exposure together, the regional finals gave participants an opportunity to put their STEM learning into practice while exploring where an interest in engineering could take them.