About us

We bring together students who want to learn by building. Our projects span robotics, manufacturing, agriculture, software, sustainability, healthcare and other areas where automation can solve practical problems.

Projects can begin within the team or come through industry partners, researchers, the Faculty of Engineering and the Monash Smart Manufacturing Lab. Some run for a semester, others develop over several years as new members take ownership and build on the work of those before them.

Our programs organise projects by their area of application. Each is led by a Program Manager who supports the teams working within it, but programs are not meant to place members into fixed technical streams. A mechanical engineer might work on control software. A software student might help manufacture a prototype. A first-year member might work beside someone completing their final year.

Members develop practical skills in design, manufacturing, electronics, programming, simulation, project management and teamwork, and learn how those areas come together when you are responsible for making something actually work. They are guided by senior team members, industry professionals, researchers and our Academic Advisors.

2026 has been a big year for Monash Automation. Across the team, our members have designed, built, tested, broken, rebuilt and improved projects that started as little more than an idea. Each one gave our members the chance to work on problems that do not have a neat answer at the back of a textbook.

We want students to have the space to try things for themselves: to machine a part they designed, write software that controls a real system, work with an industry client, lead a team, test an idea and sometimes get it wrong. The value is not just in the finished project. It is in everything learned along the way.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to Monash Automation this year, and to the people and organisations who continue to support our students.

Aydin Chowdhury & David Phillips
Co-CEOs of Monash Automation, 2026