Shell Eco-marathon student sets sights on space exploration – and beyond
What Marisa Murillo loves about science is the art of asking questions, and the hands-on search for answers.
Growing up in a suburb of Houston, known famously for space exploration, Marisa Murillo was well aware of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in her backyard. Watching advancements in spaceflight through neighbors who worked close to missions wasn’t lost on a child who found herself enthralled with science. From field trips to the Space Center Houston while in grade school to now collaborating with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to map water in all its forms on the lunar surface – it almost feels full circle.
Marisa Murillo, PhD planetary science student at University of HawaiiOur culture as a city is to look up at the stars and think about doing impossible things.
In the first grade, Marisa’s first science class taught her about magnets. Her teacher, Mrs. Kiley, told the class that science is where you can ask questions about anything, and anyone who has questions and tries to answer them can be a scientist. Marisa’s love of curiosity told her that science was her calling. She is still in touch with Mrs. Kiley today, a teacher she credits with instilling that budding science bug in her.
One of the scientific opportunities Marisa was able to partake in was Shell Eco-marathon, an energy-efficiency engineering program for students. Shell Eco-marathon is a competition bringing together teams from across the Americas to design, build, and test their prototype and urban concept vehicles while achieving energy efficiency. She competed with different teams from 2014- 2016.
The Shell Eco-marathon was the first time Marisa was exposed to mechanical engineering and people who were interested in the similar fields of science.
Marisa Murillo, PhD planetary science student at University of HawaiiI never really had the vocabulary to describe exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up as a kid, but I always had an idea of the career path I wanted to go down, which was that I wanted to be the kind of scientist who builds the experiments and uses tools to answer questions of science and collect information that teaches us new things
With a passion for direct learning and experimentation learned through Shell Eco-marathon, Marisa went on to earn her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University.
Competitions like Shell Eco-marathon also helped Marisa find her confidence in real-life experiences, such as designing hardware in research labs once she got to college.
Although Marisa’s Shell Eco-marathon teams didn’t win the competition, the experience did not dampen the lessons learned. The competition’s engineering design project process from start to finish of creating a fuel-efficient car—starting as a thought bubble to drafting sketches and building prototypes to eventually having a physical car that runs on real gas to drive on a track—is invaluable. For one of the first times, Marisa was meeting others who were just as enthusiastic about science as her, coming to the table with different approaches to solve the same problem.
From track to lab
In her first year of graduate school at University of Hawaii at Manoa, Marisa’s work includes preparing proposed instruments for future missions to return astronauts to the moon and help create maps of water on the surfaces of the lunar South Pole.
In her PhD work, she welcomes different perspectives and experiences needed for the advancement of the field of planetary science, mirroring prior experiences she’s had in previous science fields.
For the love of science
Marisa’s advice to budding science lovers is that there is so much more to know than what students can learn from a textbook. Students need to see it for themselves, and feel science with their own hands, to get to the answers. One of the projects Marisa is working on is monitoring the atmospheric activity on earth, whether that comes from the natural processes of the planet or human changes. “Planetary science isn't just what we see when we look up. It's also what we see when we look down at our own planet,” says Marisa.
Marisa Murillo, PhD planetary science student at University of HawaiiIf you love what you do, you’re absolutely in a space that you belong. Challenge yourself, learn from the people around you, and keep being excited about what you’re gaining along the way.
From space, and beyond
Gleaning from her own journey, Marisa sees continued teaching and research in her future. She has her eyes on field work in Antarctica one day. The opportunity to explore such a vastly different corner of the planet - exploring the resilience of biology on earth, meteorites from other worlds, or just the history of ice on the planet, she thinks Antarctica is a scientist’s dream. For now, she keeps growing, learning, and sharing her love of science with students who are energized by asking questions – and searching for the answers – like herself.
Shell Eco-marathon Americas 2025
The legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway plays host as student teams design, build and test their prototype and urban concept vehicles, while pushing the boundaries of what is technically possible.