Executives
The executive team behind MCAV
Yoonus Nazeem
Chief Executive Officer
Yoonus is a 4th-year student pursuing a double degree in Software Engineering and Information Technology. He joined MCAV team in 2023, where his contributions began in the Legal and Policy Team.
In his free time, Yoonus indulges in photography, hiking and travelling.
Samuel Tri
Chief Technical Officer
Samuel (Sam) is a 4th-year Engineering student, specializing in Mechatronics Engineering in the AI-stream. Sam joined MCAV in 2023 as a mechanical engineer in the MRN sub-team which is now currently known as ITS, before transitioning to the ESDA sub-team.
In Sam’s free time, he swims, bike rides and plays a number of other sports.
Harit Patel
Chief Operating Officer
Harit is a 2nd-year student studying a double degree in Mechatronics Engineering and Commerce. He joined MCAV in early 2024 working with the Business Operations team.
Outside of academics, Harit enjoys going for bike rides in his local area, spending time with his mates and exploring his new home of Melbourne!c
Supervisors
Professor Hai Vu
Academic Supervisor
Hai L. Vu is a Professor and the recipient of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow Award (2012-2016) in the area of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). He joined Monash University in 2016 to lead the ITS research.
Prior to that, he spent 5 years at the University of Melbourne and 11 years at Swinburne University of Technology where he has had established and led the Intelligent Transport Systems Lab in a joint partnership with VicRoads. He has over 19 years experience as an academic and researcher.
Dr Hoam Chung
Academic Supervisor
Dr. Chung is currently a lecturer in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Monash University. His research interests include shared autonomy, model predictive control (MPC) theory and application, autonomous miniature flyers, real-time system design and software/hardware implementation autonomous unmanned systems (UAVs, UGVs, and UUVs), and robotics.
He worked worked in Berkeley AeRobot (BEAR) project from 2000 to 2009 as a PhD student and then a postdoctoral researcher.
Pascal Mater
Technical Supervisor
Pascal Mater is employed at the department of Civil Engineering as a Senior Technical Officer to support electronics and computing related matters within the department.
After completing his Bachelors of Electronics, he gained (software and hardware) design engineering and sales/marketing experience in several industries including medical imaging, rail-way industry and automotive.
Advisory Board
Chris Murphy
Founder @ Relativity Engineering Group
Passionate about Mobility, Technology and Safety, Chris has had significant Development, Verification and Validation experience of Safety Critical systems such as Traction Control and the Electronic Stability Program. He has been involved with many of the world’s largest Auto makers.
He led the development of Automated Valet Parking at Bosch, with world first launch in the Mercedes Benz S Class.
More recently as founder of his own company, Chris is now involved with product development, compliance and homologation of various Automotive Systems.
Matthew Willaton
Research Support Officer @ Monash Innovation Labs
Matthew is employed at the Faculty of Engineering as the Lab Manager for Monash Smart Infrastructure pursuing and supporting research in Computer Vision, Digital Twins and Artificial Intelligence for industry partners; PhD and undergraduate students.
After completing his Bachelors of Mechatronics Engineering and Commerce with Monash University, he focused on Human Mobility Edge Computing Systems and Digital Twins.
In his free time, Matthew indulges in Volleyball, Bouldering and Hiking.
Yide Tao
Advisor @ Monash Innovation Labs
Following graduation, Yide Tao joined the advisory board of the MCAV student team, where he took on a key mentorship role.
During his tenure, he provided specialized technical support in computer vision algorithm development, ROS2 integration, and the design and maintenance of simulation frameworks.
He played an instrumental part in advancing two flagship initiatives—the Autonomous Delivery Robot (ADR) and the Electric Self‑Driving Automobile (ESDA)—by shaping system architecture, crafting perception pipelines, and overseeing comprehensive simulation validation.
Technical Leads
Ishaan Chowdhary | I.T.S
David Batonda | U.A
Brandon Tran | E.S.D.A
Pellegrina Nheu | E.S.D.A
Victor Huang | V.R.A.V
As a student, you will gain valuable skills and experience. Only passion required