Shell Eco-marathon, one of the longest-running student innovation competitions in the world, is a program that aims to encourage students who will design the future in the fields of science, technology and engineering. The program also contributes to enhancing students' knowledge in the fields of energy technologies and alternative energy sources. This program is implemented by teams exploring all aspects of design, technology and engineering, designing energy-efficient vehicles and competing on the track. Students aim to travel the longest distance with the least amount of fuel with the vehicles they design.
Shell Eco-marathon has been attended by over 135 Turkish teams and over 2,000 Turkish students in Europe since 2005. Turkish teams have managed to rank among top 10 in their categories 25 times since 2005.
In 2018, Uludağ University Machinery Community students won the European championship in this competition organized with the participation of 147 teams from 27 countries. Designed and produced by Uludağ University students, ‘Barbaros’ was chosen as the most efficient vehicle in Europe in the city concept hydrogen energy vehicle category. In 2019, Yıldız Technical University AE2 team, one of the Turkish teams, won the "Safety Award" in the Off-Track Awards granted in 5 categories.
In 2020, in the competition held online for the first time due to the pandemic, Turkish young people attracted attention in Europe with the projects they developed. Within the scope of Shell Eco-marathon Europe 2020, Bursa Uludağ University's team UMAKIT ranked first in both the "Circular Economy" and "Technical Innovation" categories, Yıldız Technical University's team AE2 ranked first in the "Safety Award" category and TED University's ALECTED TEAM ranked first in the "Monitoring and Reducing Carbon Emissions in Vehicles" category in Europe. The program continued with virtual competitions during this period when physical competitions were suspended due to the continuing impact of the pandemic conditions in 2021. One of these was the "Journey to 2050" competition, where high school and university students from all over the world sought an answer to the question "What should mobility look like in your future?"
In this competition, which was held in collaboration with Shell and Microsoft, students were asked to shoot a 30-second advertising video using their sustainable, creative, environmentally friendly and technological ideas in the field of the future of mobility in line with this goal. Team UMAKIT from Bursa Uludağ University became the first in the Europe & Africa Region with the interesting video they shot.
Shell Eco-marathon was held physically in 2022 after a two-year break. In the races in the Netherlands, Karadeniz Technical University Energy Technologies Community was granted the ‘Spirit and Perseverance Award’, which was selected with a special evaluation. The team members' ability to overcome difficult conditions throughout the competition, their flexibility, harmony, support and high energy they provided to their friends in other teams played a role in receiving this award. In 2023 and 2024, the Shell Eco-marathon was held at Circuit Paul Armagnac in Nogaro, France.
In 2024, a total of 166 students from cities including Adana, Antalya, Bursa, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, Istanbul, Konya, and Trabzon came together to form 12 teams representing high schools and universities. They hit the track with vehicles powered by alternative energy sources like hydrogen and electricity.
In 2024, three teams applied to the Shell Eco-marathon for the first time and earned the right to compete in France: Gaziantep University, Selçuk University, and Turan Erdoğan Yılmaz Science High School.
Borusan Asım Kocabıyık Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School competed in different categories with two different vehicles. Yıldız Technical University’s AESK team competed in the Autonomous Urban Concept and Battery Electric categories with a single vehicle.
Istanbul Technical University and Karadeniz Technical University also had the opportunity to test their vehicles, developed in various categories by two different teams, at the international level.