I’m very excited to announce that I have been named the 2019 Shell Eco-Marathon Ambassador for Australia.

The concept of the Shell Eco-Marathon stems from a friendly bet between two scientists at Shell in 1939. How far could a vehicle travel on a gallon of fuel?

They shook on the bet and set about stretching the limits. By 1985, Shell Eco-marathon became a student competition. Now, 52 countries, more than 700 teams and 6000 students are participating in the Shell Eco-marathon across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.

I like the competition because it’s not about building a fast car − it’s focused on minimising the car’s environmental impact.

A great way to learn is to create a project and work with other people to achieve a common aim under the pressure of a deadline. The other people help keep you motivated so that you feel a sense of responsibility beyond yourself. The common aim directs what you’re working towards. And the deadline pressure means that the project has to move along at a snappy pace to be completed. Shell Eco-Marathon ticks these boxes: the project is to create the car; you’re working in a team; the aim is to create an efficient, eco-friendly vehicle; and the deadline is the competition dates.

You can learn so much through participating in a competition like this: coming up with the requirements, brainstorming designs, and building a car and the electronics. It’s not just applying the science theories you learn in the classroom. It’s building something with your hands, problem solving, working in a team, and knowing yourself as someone who can make things happen. These are the same skills we use every day in my robotics company, aubot, where we make robots for people to go to school and work remotely! Competitions like Shell Eco-Marathon set you up for the real world, giving you the technical skills and confidence to make stuff happen.

The competition is open to secondary school and university students.

A secondary school in the regional Victorian town of Bendigo, Girton Grammar School, heard about the competition and decided to enter.

The young team worked hard and built an electric car, managing an impressive 6th place finish in their Mileage Challenge category!

Encouraged by their experience, Girton’s Team Incharge has once again put their hand up to participate in Shell Eco-Marathon as the sole team representing Australia in this year’s Asia Pacific finals in Malaysia.  This year, Shell Eco-Marathon Asia has 100 student teams representing 18 countries!

A month ago, the Girton Grammar team packed their car in Bendigo and sent it to Malaysia. Today, Shell Eco-Marathon Asia began.

Girton Grammar has two days for tech checks and to make any final changes to their car, including electronics integration and testing. Then it’s competition time!

Over the next two days, the Girton Grammar students will get to compete and test their hard work against hundreds of other students in the region.

As the Shell Eco-Marathon Ambassador for Australia, I was invited to go along to Malaysia with the Girton Grammar team to report on their progress, as well as find out about and report on the other teams and what they’ve brought to the table.

I can't wait to be part of the action and give you more updates about Shell Eco-Marathon Asia throughout the week!  Go Australia!  Go Girton team Incharge!