Concept to race day

Michail-Angelos
Gkouvelis.

Head of Mechanical Engineering, Prometheus Eco Racing (NTUA)
One engineer, concept through race day

Building ultra-efficient race vehicles by carrying one programme from concept through simulation, manufacture, test and race day. Open to conversations now about motorsport engineering roles starting November 2027.

View Featured Project Get in Touch
Vehicle Design Award, Shell Eco-marathon Europe 2026
Winner
Shell Eco-marathon Europe 2026
7th in class
PYRFOROS IV efficiency
201.97 km/kWh
vs. the previous car
~2.5× efficiency

Turning CAD concepts into raced, validated hardware

I'm a Production Engineering & Management graduate from the Technical University of Crete (TUC), and Head of Mechanical Engineering at Prometheus Eco Racing, NTUA. My work sits at the intersection of composites manufacturing, aerodynamics, and structural simulation.

Over the past few seasons I've led the mechanical design of ultra-efficient single-seaters for the Shell Eco-marathon. What I care about is the whole loop, not one stage of it: a target argued from a lap simulation, a structure simulated down to the ply, a mould and an oven built because the part could not be bought, a rig built to measure what came out of them, and then the race, which is the only measurement that does not care what you predicted.

One loop, four artefacts

Each stage below is on this site as a finished piece of work, not as a claim about how I like to work. Two are PYRFOROS IV at Prometheus Eco Racing; two are the CFRP wheel programme of my TUC diploma thesis.

  1. 01 · Concept · PYRFOROS IV

    Design criteria before geometry

    Top-level targets, layout and goals, argued from a lap-simulation energy budget before any surface was drawn.

    Concept & architecture →
  2. 02 · Simulation · PYRFOROS IV

    A material model, then the structure

    Laminate properties derived rather than looked up, then load cases and a failure check on every primary layer.

    Monocoque & composites →
  3. 03 · Manufacture · TUC thesis

    Tooling designed alongside the part

    Moulds, vacuum infusion and a purpose-built curing oven, because the part could not be bought or the cycle it needed did not exist yet.

    Curing oven →
  4. 04 · Validation · TUC thesis

    A rig built to measure the part

    An instrumented bench to put a number on the finished part, then the race itself as the measurement that does not care what you predicted.

    Test bench →

Featured project: PYRFOROS IV

PYRFOROS IV on track at Shell Eco-marathon Europe 2026, race number 717

FIG. 01 · PYRFOROS IV · Prometheus Eco Racing (NTUA) · Shell Eco-marathon Europe 2026

PYRFOROS IV is the fourth-generation Shell Eco-marathon prototype from Prometheus Eco Racing, NTUA. I directed its structural design, composites manufacturing and aerodynamic development as Head of Mechanical Engineering, carrying the programme from a lap-simulation energy budget through to the car crossing the finish line. Every architecture choice on this car traces back to that budget, set out in full on the concept & architecture case study.

Efficiency
PIII 80.41 km/kWh →
PIV 201.97 km/kWh +151.2%
Drag coefficient (Cd, CFD)
PIII 0.299 →
PIV 0.111 −62.9%
Kerb mass
PIII 130 kg →
PIV 80 kg −38.5%
Drag area (CdAf, CFD)
PIII 0.343 m² →
PIV 0.098 m² −71.4%
Result 7th in class
Role Head of Mech. Engineering
Award Vehicle Design Award Winner
Full case study → All projects →

Experience

  1. 2026

    Shell Eco-marathon Europe, 7th in class, Vehicle Design Award

    Led PYRFOROS IV to 201.97 km/kWh, roughly 2.5× the efficiency of the prior generation car.

  2. Sept 2025 – Present

    Head of Mechanical Engineering, Prometheus Eco Racing (NTUA)

    Directing structural design, composites manufacturing, and aerodynamic development of ultra-efficient Shell Eco-marathon prototypes.

  3. 2024 – 25

    Diploma Thesis, CFRP Wheel Design & Validation · Best Thesis Award

    Designed, laid up, and structurally validated a full carbon-fibre composite wheel; failure analysis under combined loading (Tsai–Wu RF 1.54).

  4. 2019 – Nov 2025

    TUCer, Technical University of Crete · Shell Eco-marathon

    Three roles on the team's hydrogen Urban Concept programme: ergonomics and 3D manufacturing, then analysis and design, then Team Manager & Lead Mechanical Engineer.

  5. 2019 – Sept 2025

    Production Engineering & Management, Technical University of Crete

    Graduate degree spanning design, manufacturing, metrology, and simulation.

  6. 2019

    Design & Manufacturing Engineer, MEKAS

    CAD redesign of a hand-drafted product and laser-cutting nest optimisation: −30% cutting time and material waste.

  7. Sept 2021 – Nov 2023

    Robotics Teacher, MEMO Education

    Part-time robotics teaching in Chania, Crete, alongside TUCer and the degree.

  8. Sept 2019 – Sept 2022

    Freelance Product Designer & Mechanical Engineer, Upwork

    Remote freelance work bringing concepts to 3D models and real prototypes, from CAD through simulation.

See full achievements timeline →

Publications & thesis

Diploma Thesis · Technical University of Crete · Best Thesis Award

Wheel Development for a Low-Consumption Vehicle

89-page diploma thesis I personally authored, covering the design, RVE-based material characterisation, FEA validation, manufacture and instrumented testing of a single-piece tubeless carbon-fibre wheel, validated to a Tsai–Wu reserve factor of 1.54. View case study →

Awarded Best Thesis, Technical University of Crete, 2025. Greek with an English abstract, 89 pages, available on request.

Request a copy
Technical Submission · Prometheus Eco Racing · Vehicle Design Award Winner

PYRFOROS IV Vehicle Design Award Entry

15-page technical submission I personally authored, covering design philosophy, aerodynamics, structures & FEA, suspension, wheels, ergonomics, and sustainable manufacturing, all quantified against the prior generation. View case study →

Shell Eco-marathon 2026, team ID GR0002001. English, 15 pages, 5.2 MB PDF.

Download PDF

Engineering toolkit

  • BETA CAE Systems Certified

    ANSA, EPILYSIS & META for pre/post-processing and solving, on the monocoque, wheel and suspension FEA.

  • MATLAB, Simulink & Simscape Certified

    Data analysis, control models, and physical-network simulation, run for the lap simulation and the oven thermal model.

  • NablaFlow AeroCloud

    Cloud CFD for external aerodynamics: geometry, domain conditions and run quality.

  • Composite analysis

    RVE homogenisation and ply-level Tsai–Wu failure checks on CFRP structures.

  • GOM Inspect

    Structured-light 3D scanning, scan-to-CAD deviation and tolerance analysis.

  • Fusion 360

    Parametric CAD design and additive manufacturing prep.

  • VARTM

    Vacuum-assisted resin transfer moulding for CFRP shells and wheels.

  • Python

    Data processing and analysis scripting.

  • 3D scanning

    Structured-light scan capture, on the bench and on finished parts, feeding the GOM Inspect deviation checks above.

  • Additive manufacturing

    Design for print and hands-on part production, from prototype fixtures to finished components.

  • Laminating

    Hand layup and vacuum infusion of CFRP shells and wheels, on the bench, not only in the model.

  • CNC & conventional machining

    Mills and lathes, CNC and conventional, for fixtures, moulds and one-off metal parts.

Contact

Let's talk motorsport.

Based in Greece, ready to relocate. Available from November 2027.

Request my CV LinkedIn

mihalis@gouvelis.com