Under The Hood with Team Antasena

This is what Raihan, the 2019/2020 General Manager of the Antasena Team from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, felt after participating in the Shell Eco-marathon. The Antasena team first participated in the Shell Eco-marathon in 2012 and 2014 with a mission to develop a hydrogen car. As a team, the Antasena team has an ambition to be a pioneer that introduces hydrogen fuel cell technology to Indonesia. Other than making Indonesia proud, the team hopes that by joining Shell Eco-marathon, they could grow hope in realising a technology-independent Indonesia.

After participating in the 2014 Shell Eco-marathon, the team went on a hiatus until finally returning again in 2019. During their hiatus the Antasena Team continues to innovate and do various research to develop their vehicle to later be used on various competitions.

Read the journey of the Antasena Team that has brought the hydrogen technology vehicles to the world stage, with Raihan the 2019/2020 General Manager of the Antasena Team.

During your tenure with the Antasena Team, what was the biggest challenge you have faced and how did you handle it?

R: One of the challenges came when we knew that SEM 2020 had to be cancelled due to the pandemic right after we got tickets to go to Malaysia. As the General Manager, I needed to convince my teammates that the situation is happening beyond our control and to continue to uplift my team to continue to innovate.

I tried to remind the team again that our main focus is to innovate in terms of car efficiency. That is our target. As long as this target has not been achieved, we have to continue our research to keep on innovating. The race was postponed, but our passion will always continue.

(The Shell Eco-marathon 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shell Eco-marathon prioritizes the health and safety of participants and organizers, therefore Shell Eco-marathon 2020 was taking place off-track by organizing virtual competitions.)

After going on a hiatus for 4 years, the Antasena team finally returned to Shell Eco-marathon in 2019. How was the preparation of the Antasena Team in returning to compete at the Shell Eco-marathon?

R: We prepared a few technical research and improved the internal administration process, so that our team can work more efficiently and maintain our togetherness. We also created a guidebook for team members to make it easier in terms of regeneration, guidelines for activities per division, code of conduct for team activities so that all processes become more structured and would not be time-consuming. We also took advantage of the hiatus to finalise this system so that in the future, the Antasena team can continue to focus on doing research and development.

From a technical point of view, we have also participated in several competitions for innovation tools which hopefully can be applied to vehicle improvement either directly or indirectly.

It takes consistency and strong will when competing. What is the motivation and story behind the Antasena Team who have been willing to dedicate their time and energy to participate in SEM competitions over the last few years?

R: Our motivation is to prove that Antasena is here and better, because we have applied years of research to our practices. We want to be the pioneers of hydrogen cars in Indonesia or at least that's the path we chose.

In the year of 2020, the Antasena Team also won the title of the 'Most Creative Content' Shell Eco-marathon Social Media Competition. How did the team optimise various opportunities to win this award?

R: We don't want to stay quiet, especially after preparing for Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2020. As I stated before, one of our aims is that our research be used in the future and we want the public to understand the potential that exists in this environmentally friendly technology, so that together we can create a technology-independent Indonesia.

Therefore, we always do social media campaigns. Other than that, we also carried out a social campaign that introduced pollution-free cars in the car-free day area. The campaign showed other ITS students and freshmans the opportunities given by technology and how to properly use it.

How do you think the Shell Eco-marathon helps to realise sustainable and renewable energy developments?

R: I feel that the Shell Eco-marathon greatly facilitates the development of sustainable and renewable energy. For example, the regulations implemented by the Shell Eco-marathon require us to think critically about these regulations, so that we understand what the world should do about the issues of new and renewable energy. And I believe, every country can implement this act even though in a different format, something that we can take advantage of from the Shell Eco-marathon.

What are the hopes and visions for the future’s green energy automotive industry?

R: No pollution, integrated, fast and safe, coupled with support by the emergence of healthy community behavior that are part of the projection.

What is your message for the young Indonesians who have the spirit to make the nation proud, or are interested in participating in the Shell Eco-marathon competition?

R: Don't be afraid to be wrong, because the young generation has something that none have: time. Time is the most basic transaction tool in our lives, trade it for useful things. Start things we have never started, because out there we will find a lot of things we have never found and things we have never done before.

The question is, when was the last time you did something for the first time? In my opinion, the Shell Eco-marathon is a place that can accommodate this.