Engineers Australia and Engineering Heritage Australia decided to feature me as one of 100 Australian engineering leaders in their book, “Anything is Possible: 100 Australian engineering leaders" to celebrate their centenary in 2019.  Here’s my inclusion!

To my great surprise, I was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) this year, announced on the Queen’s Birthday Weekend. This means I now get to write my name as "Marita Cheng AM".  Most people who get this recognition are over 40 years older than me - the person awarded after me was 88 years old!

In the Australian honours system, appointments to the Order of Australia confer the highest recognition for outstanding achievement and service - mine was “for significant service to science and technology, particularly to robotics.” Consideration of a nomination can take between 18 months and two years - so I would have been nominated in 2017!

Over the past 11 years, I’ve been very lucky to have worked with amazing people across my teams at Robogals, Aubot, Aipoly, and Saxton to impact the lives of millions of people around the world. Thank you to you all - I couldn't have done this without you.

Growing up in regional Far North Queensland, I didn’t know much about the Order of Australia recognition at all, but I’m very honored to be a part of this group now and will wear my badge proudly.

I try to continuously challenge myself and put myself in situations where I am enthusiastically learning and growing.

I don’t know who nominated me - I found out when I got it - so it was an unexpected surprise and a lovely acknowledgment of all the work that I’ve done so far. It definitely inspires me to continue to be courageous and bold going forwards!

The Australian wrote more about my inclusion in the Order of Australia here:  https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/changing-the-world-with-robots/news-story/89610fe46c0cbefa6b4a8c64b6d92bbe

These awards were designed “to recognise Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or meritorious service.” There are many people I respect and admire who have received the post-nominal in the past, and who are receiving their post-nominal alongside me.  You can see the full list of my fellow Queen's Birthday Weekend awardees here:  https://www.theage.com.au/national/extraordinary-australians-honoured-in-annual-queen-s-birthday-ceremonies-20190606-p51v6q.html?fbclid=IwAR1Js-kFAp34JIYT7mpUhXhMaZkLlxJdjwT40_0_qW1zzocpcUkc-Hhwn90

On 17 September 2019, the Governor of Victoria presented me with the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) medal at Government House in Victoria.

After months of careful, hard work by the team, we have launched a new Aubot website!  Have a look at our new website here!

In addition to that - the team filmed a new video of "Teleport in action". Have a look at the fun video here!

The NBN Stempreneur Initiative is a virtual learning program for kids in eight regional schools. It shows young people the breadth of opportunities that STEM education offers them, how those skills relate to entrepreneurship, and the important role of technology and connectivity in creating opportunities for regional, rural and remote Australia.

After 12 weeks of virtual learning about STEM and entrepreneurship, students then had two months to develop an idea for a social enterprise that’s enabled by technology that would benefit their local community.

As the NBN STEMpreneur ambassador, I acted as a mentor to the schools as they prepared their STEM-related ideas.

The schools involved and their entries included:

Larapinta Primary School, Alice Springs, NT
Idea: TINT (Tourist Information Northern Territory)
Designed for NT-visiting tourists, TINT provides advice on food and water provisions, and the dangers of local animals. The app and website can also connect users to emergency services, and features location tracking via satellite.

Parkwood Primary School, Perth, WA
Idea: Kids Mental Help
A website to support the mental wellbeing of young people, Kids Mental Help includes a chat function and a mascot keyring for students as a reminder of the resource available to them.

Parramatta State School, Cairns, QLD
Class 6A
Idea: The Hope Shack
A mobile hub to support homeless people in Cairns, including access to washing machines, internet to help with finances and employment, and other essential services.

Class 6B
Idea: R4 – Reef Rubbish Removal Robot
Designed in the shape of a whale shark, R4’s ‘mouth’ collects rubbish via a net system allowing animals to swim through. Solar powered and fitted with a camera, R4 data can be accessed in real-time by the public to increase awareness of ocean pollution.

Para Hills Primary School, Adelaide, SA
Idea: Fun Time Bin
Gamifying responsible rubbish disposal, Fun Time Bin scans and sorts rubbish according to general waste, paper and plastic, or glass recyclables, building a database of the rubbish being collected.

Canadian Lead Primary, Ballarat, VIC
Idea: Clean Crew Bin Solution
A self-sustaining digital bin powered by solar energy, the Clean Crew Bin Solution encourages communities to scan rubbish in exchange for rewards redeemable at local retailers.

Islington Primary School, Newcastle, NSW
Idea: Air Aware
Concerned with air pollution from uncovered trains travelling from coal mines, Air Aware provides community members with real-time air quality information via app and website.

Victoria Park State School, Mackay, QLD
Idea: Little Litter Legends
To encourage responsible rubbish disposal, the Little Litter Legends app rewards users by earning points that can be traded for clothing and accessories.

Bowen Road Primary, Hobart, TAS
Idea: Fireflies
To help firefighters combat blazes, Fireflies is a remote sensing autonomous vehicle (aka drone) that flies into low visibility areas to convey vital information back to emergency services.

(You can read more about the schools and the ideas they presented here).

From the impressive ideas presented, it was very clear that these students are very concerned about the environment, with six of the nine ideas in that category.  Four of those ideas were about disposing of rubbish correctly (Little Litter Legends, Clean Crew Bin, Fun-Time Bin, and R4 (Reef Rubbish Removal Robot)), one idea about improving air quality in their town (Air Aware), and one idea about helping firefighters control bushfires (Fireflies).  The other three ideas demonstrated concern for people's wellbeing whether that be other people's survival (T.I.N.T and ensuring tourists in NT have enough water to drink while venturing into the desert), ensuring kids are in the right frame of mind to learn at school (Kids Mental Help), or that homeless people can access facilities easily (The Hope Shack).

The ideas were all very innovative and presented very creatively through videos shot at the kids' schools.  After much deliberation, the judges decided the winner of NBN STEMpreneur was Bowen Road Primary.  The judges liked that Bowen Road Primary spent a lot of time interviewing firefighters, people who work with drones, and other emergency services, in order to create a solution that would solve the problem they identified.

It was such a pleasure to mentor these kids and then see their creative solutions at the end of the process. I particularly liked it when the kids found problems in their local community that were real and specific, giving them constraints to be creative within. Well done to everyone involved on a great initiative!

Aubot has created an instagram page with fun photos of Teleport!  Check them out here!

Growing up, I read stories about technology being created in San Francisco. So I was truly honoured when I was named an inaugural Asia Society Change Agent West in San Francisco, in front of 350 friends of the Asia Society​, alongside Roya Mahboob​ and the Afghan Girls Robotics team, global Hep B advocate Dr Sam So and “the Father of Fibre Optics” Dr. Narinder Kapany. Thank you Asia Society Northern California​ - I am truly humbled by the recognition!

Below is a video of my acceptance speech.

It was a whirlwind of a week in Malaysia at Shell Eco-marathon Asia. The air was constantly buzzing with intense excitement and anticipation, mixed with the tension of competitive anxiety.

So how did Girton go?

(click here or on the image above for a video summary of Day 3)
I also got to hop in and out of the Girton car to see if I could get out in below 10 seconds as per Tech Inspection rules - watch to see me fail to do that!

(click here or on the image above for a video summary of Day 4) 

Turns out the car had a glitch during its first run, leading it to stop within metres of the finish line!
Attempt 1 efficiency: NA. Driver: Emma.

All Incharge driver Emma had to do the next time a glitch happened was to press the reset button and the car would restart and make its way across the finish line. So the strategy for round 2 was to get a run on the table. It wasn’t perfect, with the motor playing up, meaning the car stopped and started. They were trialling a new strategy that ended up causing the Girton car to stop unintentionally on the second lap, a stressful experience, resulting in a manual restart when the system wasn’t quite right. Despite the glitches, the team managed to get a run on the board, a huge delight to the team! As Emma said afterwards, "Getting a valid run was one of the most relieving things!”
Attempt 2 efficiency: 229.9 km/kWh. (The higher the efficiency, the better.) Driver: Emma.

For the 3rd run, the team reverted to their previous strategy. The motor again played up, never stopping, but not quite doing what the code wanted.
Attempt 3 efficiency: 248.9 km/kWh. Driver: Jess.

The 4th run implemented the same strategy as the 3rd run, eliciting similar results and the same glitches. Again the car didn’t stop but again the motor didn’t perform as coded.
Attempt 4 efficiency: 243.3 km/kWh. Driver: Emma.

For the 5th run, the team decided to change up the drive system. This resulted in the car stalling on the Sepang Circuit’s hill. Having only completed half a lap before getting stuck, the vehicle had to be taken back to the pits.
Attempt 5 efficiency: NA. Driver: Jess.

With only three laps to prove themselves, for the 6th run. the Girton team once again changed their code and strategy. This resulted in Girton driver Jess driving the first full, smooth run, and their best efficiency!
Attempt 6 efficiency: 284.4 km/kWh. Driver: Jess.

Having found the winning formula, it was decided that for the 7th run, the car and Emma would run on the same code and strategy. This run resulted in a similar time and efficiency to the previous run − proving to the judges the Girton drivers’ competency and the car’s consistency.
Attempt 7 efficiency: 282.8 km/kWh. Driver: Emma.

Each team is allowed eight runs around the track. With Girton racing to charge their battery and get back on the track after their 6th attempt, they were the second last car to get out on the track with their 7th attempt and ran out of time for a final attempt.

With all the racing done, and the results tallied, Team Incharge came in 5th place! Beating their 6th place finish from last year! The team was stoked and relieved that they improved and placed better than last year! And were pretty chuffed to achieve that result as a high school entrant!

It was a great experience for the Girton team, with Incharge’s other driver Jess saying that “Other students should participate if they feel like they will find this sport interesting and intriguing.” For Jess, she enjoyed “building things and electrical components”, which was why she put her hand up when Mr Smith asked for students to volunteer their participation.

And regardless whether you want to be an engineer or not, the skills you learn from a competition like Shell Eco-marathon are transferable to any industry.

As Emma said, “I don’t suddenly want to be an engineer but I have a great respect for what they can do, it blows my mind how they can connect all these wires and things and have a moving vehicle! For me, this experience will forever be remembered and I have learnt many life skills and things about myself that I will use in the future.” Other team members added: “I learnt things about myself, like pushing myself a bit and staying calm in situations where it is tense.” “I learnt so much! A lot about myself and my friends and lots about F1 tracks.”

The team agrees though that the best part of the week was all about the people with the highlights being “meeting new people and driving on the formula track”, “working as a team and riding the highs and lows of the week with everyone”, and “working with and hanging out with my team was probably my favourite part of the whole week”.

And as for advice the team gives to future teams who may want to participate?

“Get prepared before even leaving for the event. Organisation is key. But once you’re there, just keep a smile on your face and it will spread to people around you.” “It was a really fun week where you can meet other teams.” “It’s an experience like no other.” “I was trying to be open with what I thought would happen as I really had no idea. It was crazy busy and stressful but so rewarding.”

And how was the whole thing?

Weather
I feel that weather played such a big role that it would be remiss not to mention it. The weather there was very trying. It was very hot and humid. When the sun was out, the concourse was clear. People preferred to shelter in the air-conditioned tents, called the “Paddock”, where each team had a small 12 x 12 space to assemble and troubleshoot their cars.  When clouds gathered above and a slight breeze joined the air, people would emerge and collaborate outside.

The weather at Shell Eco-marathon will of course change depending on where it’s held, so it might not be as hot and humid next year, if it’s held somewhere else.

Girton team under the hot sun on the concourse

Girton drivers resting from the hot sun

Food
They made sure we were fed and watered. Our goodie bags contained a few bottles of Pepsi, a few packets of potato chips and various other snacks.
We also got a stash of meal coupons for lunch and dinner when we registered. And there were water coolers everywhere. There were meat and vegetarian options. It was packaged like plane food, which made it fun to eat.

Dinner

Shell Eco-Marathon Asia Mess Hall 

Teams
Due to the intensity of the heat and exhaustion from the competition preparation, there were a lot of team members sleeping in their Paddocks throughout the week. I don’t blame them − it’s a full-on week! You’re working really hard to get your vehicle ready for competition. And then if you’re waiting for your turn before racing or an event, catching a few ‘zzz’s is a good use of time. The Girton team began the week chirpy and on adrenalin, but by the end of the week, were all falling asleep in their paddock as well! Teams also spent time on fixing and testing their cars, and going around to other teams to find out how their competitors’ cars were made.

Girton team sleeping in their Paddock

The giant tent that housed all the Paddocks

Gender
There were lots of men in the teams. It was wonderful to see the Girton team have four girls and five boys. There were also some entirely female teams as well, which was great to see!

Stats
About 20% of the teams at Shell Eco-marathon were high school students. Around 6-7% of the teams didn’t make it through tech inspections. And about the same percentage would struggle to get up the famous Sepang Circuit hill due to a lack of power in the vehicle.

Organisation
The whole event was very well organised − the organising team were a well-oiled machine. For example, you had to watch a safety video before being allowed to wander around the area. After watching the safety video, you were given a wristband that you had to show wherever you went. If you took the wristband off, you would have to watch the safety video again in order to get a new wristband! (So I had to keep my wristband on all the time from Monday - Thursday). Teams were given buzzers so they could be told when to take their vehicles to the various rooms for the opening ceremony and tech inspections. There was a first aid station in the middle of the Paddock. And copious amounts of a large variety of snacks − in particular Pepsi, chips and gum.

My wristband that I wore for 4 days

Overall
Overall, the entire week was very well done. It was very well organised and all the teams were looked after well. But most excitingly, the teams got to build vehicles and run them on a Formula circuit! How insane is that? Mind blown!

I had an amazing time at Shell Eco-marathon Asia. If you’re a teacher, or a university or high school student, I encourage you to find out more about the competition and participate!

If you have any questions about the competition or the experience, feel free to ask me! :)

More photos of cars and teams around Shell Eco-marathon Asia:

It's been full-on in Malaysia at Shell Eco-Marathon Asia. The most exciting thing has been tracking our Australian entrant, Girton Grammar Team Incharge, as they navigate their way through the competition.

(click here or on the image above for a video summary of Day 1) 

(click here or on the image above for a video summary of Day 2) 

Our Aussie team began their journey auspiciously, making it through immigration at Melbourne Airport 20 minutes before the immigration computer system shut down, causing massive queues and chaos for everyone else trying to travel!  

They nearly didn’t make it through though − one of the students, James, had never travelled internationally before, so he didn’t know he was meant to look up to the camera after getting his passport scanned, which the rest of the team found hilarious!

The team arrived in Kuala Lumpur late on Sunday night, 28 April, the day before the competition began, and arrived at the hotel at 1am on Monday 29 April, the day of competition.

Running on adrenaline, the team got to work early, assembling the car and putting in the electronics. The tests were running well, and everyone was relaxed and confident, until suddenly, the wheels of their car stopped turning! The next couple of hours were slightly frantic, with the students running around trying to diagnose the issue. After filming our Day 1 video with the team, they figured out the issue: some wires had become loose and the emergency stop button’s terminals weren’t connected properly - so there was no power going into any of the circuits.

Our Australian team was one of the select few fortunate to be invited to parade their car at the opening ceremony. It was great to see them walk proudly with their car in front of 18 countries and 108 teams, representing Australia under the scorching Malaysian sun.

Tuesday brought the technical inspections. The team was confident going in, but the technical inspectors were tough and weren’t letting them off easily.

The technical director was concerned about whether the Girton team’s drivers had enough experience in the vehicle.  The Incharge drivers had a lot of experience in other similar vehicles, and have raced in other competitions, but the technical director wanted to further assess their driving ability before letting them compete.

An interesting test was to see if the drivers could jump out of the car in less than 10 seconds, in case there was a fire. Incharge drivers managed 9.36 and 8.72 seconds, just under the threshold. Phew!

All up, the team spent over 3.5 hours in tech inspections, tying up cables and affixing them out of the way to ensure the car was as safe as possible.

Finally, Team Incharge passed technical inspection, allowing them to drive on the iconic Sepang International Circuit!

Even though the car was now certified track-legal, the technical director still wanted to make sure the team knew how to drive.  So the Girton drivers had to do two laps of the track successfully to show the director they could handle the track and car.

Incharge driver Emma got in the car to show her stuff. We watched as the beautiful Girton vehicle glided along the track. But then the display screen shut off and Emma was forced to drive the vehicle off the track. She didn’t even complete one lap − something had gone wrong!

Turns out the display board wire came out and Emma couldn’t see any updates, so she decided to stop to check it out, to make sure everything was functioning properly.

With the display wire securely plugged in, Emma tried again, successfully doing two laps of the track to show the technical director that the team was ready to compete.

Each car goes around the track four times to make a run. Each team is given eight attempts to lodge their best distance travelled per energy unit. The winner is the team with the most energy-efficient car in the division.

Girton Grammar Team Incharge had their first run that Tuesday afternoon. Four laps of the track, using the least amount of energy they could.

Incharge went around once, twice, three times. Up the hill, down the hill. The finish line was in sight. Just one more bend…and then…nothing. With the finish line in sight, Girton’s vehicle stopped on the home stretch. Oh no!

So that’s one attempt down but nothing on the scoreboard yet. Only eight out of the 22 teams in their division managed to complete their first run attempt.

With two days of competition to go, let’s see how Girton manages to fight back and prove their mettle!