News and Events

What is Engineering?

20th March, 2013

What is Engineering?

Is that a question you know the answer to? Engineering is a field that everybody knows about – but few people understand, so we at the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment have made a video to help explain.

This short video aims to describe engineering through animation - from mobile phones, computer games and toothpaste to amazing engineering achievements such as aeroplanes, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the world's tallest building.

The video is intended to explain the engineering profession, but should entertain anyone interested in engineering, maths or science. It highlights the importance of maths and science and touches on a few of the programs we offer at the University of Newcastle.

For further information on the Engineering programs the Faculty offers visit our program pages.

Programs in the School of Engineering.

Programs in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Formula SAE

25th February, 2013


Does the thought of designing, building and then racing a formula style car sound like fun to you? It does to the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment’s own Formula SAE team, who late last year competed in the 2013 FSAE Australasia competition.

The exciting annual competition sees university students from Australia, New Zealand and Japan travelling to Melbourne to compete in a range of events to find the best car.

Throughout the day the teams test their cars in endurance, acceleration, manoeuvring and design competitions examining every aspect of the cars.

The design and build aspects of the competition are great opportunities for any student interested in engineering, however it’s race day that makes it all worthwhile, team member Dale Lorenz explains.

"Driving the car is really awesome, it’s a really great thrill and if you’re a big motorsport fan it’s definitely something to get involved in".

FSAE is a great opportunity for any students in Engineering wanting to apply the skills they have got through their degree, team member Melanie Jackson agreed.

"In the twelve months I’ve been with formula SAE I’ve applied so many of the skills from uni and learned so many new ones."

"There’s nowhere else I would have ever learned so much during my degree"

Outgoing team leader Clint McDonald encourages keen students to get involved.

"Show up to the workshop, and if you’re keen to spin a spanner we’re happy to take you on.

"The really beautiful thing about it is it’s something you can put on your resume straight away. Something that employers will really take notice of."

To find out how you can get involved in Formula SAE contact current Team Leader Tyler Plowright.

Graduate Engineering Salaries Soaring

25th February, 2013

With the Hunter’s mining boom comes great news for students at the University of Newcastle studying towards a career in mining, with new results showing graduate salaries reaching new highs of up to $80,000.

The University of Newcastle’s graduate surveys also suggest an above-average median starting salary for our graduates.

The field of Mining is currently the Nation’s fastest growing employment sector and is likely to continue to be for the next five years.

Opportunities within the mining field are excellent, with graduates from civil, environmental, electrical and mining engineering (among other disciplines) being employed.

To find out more about engineering at the University of Newcastle visit the areas of study page.

Newcastle Herald.

Meet Newcastle’s Young Citizen of the Year

25th February, 2013

Declan ClausenMeet Declan Clausen. He is a third year student studying a combined Environmental Engineering and Science degree at the University of Newcastle and has achieved more in the past decade than many of us would hope to achieve in a lifetime.

While Declan is only 20 years old, his list of awards and achievements take up an entire page of his CV. On Australia Day this year he was able to add the prestigious title of Newcastle’s Young Citizen of the Year to this list, which he plans to use as a chance to be a voice for other youth in the region.

"I feel very privileged. Being named Newcastle’s 2013 Young Citizen is an amazing honour and a terrific opportunity to highlight some of the concerns of young people in the Hunter," said Declan.

His passion for the environment began at a young age which continued to grow through high school after an inspiring teacher encouraged him to become more involved in scientific programs.

Since then Declan hasn’t stopped and is now involved in numerous programs within and outside the University.

As well as being a student ambassador for Engineering and undertaking the Merit Pathway program offered in Science, he is also on the University Committee for Environmental Sustainability (UCES) which is chaired by the Vice Chancellor, currently works with local high schools to assist with the development of their environmental programs and attended the Science Meets Parliament conference held in Canberra last year.

He has also been awarded a scholarship with the Hunter Water Corporation and sees University as an excellent opportunity to learn more about the industry.

"Both the science and engineering programs have significant practical components which enable me to test out theory in real life. I love the hands on learning opportunities offered which grounds the complex concepts established in the classroom," he said.

After years of significant hands-on experience, Declan’s biggest environmental concern is focused around climate change.

"While there are many local challenges which concern me greatly, unabated global climate change remains my greatest environmental and moral concern," he answered.

"One of the constant challenges of our legal system is the fact that those who cannot speak for themselves far too frequently are not given a voice. This is not only sadly true for people with disabilities, but also for the natural world. The environment is often simply not given a voice" he added.

Declan sees a lot of potential in his generation and field of study to combat this issue.

"Young people in particular are free from competing interests in ways which the older generations are not. Innovation through intelligent science and engineering practices will ultimately provide the biggest opportunities to prevent the looming climate catastrophe" he said.

It may be little surprise that after Declan graduates he is looking to pursue a career that focuses on policy and sustainable resource management and would also like to contribute to post-graduate study at some point.

Declan’s view on science has changed over the years to include the bigger picture.

"Today I see my interest in science through a much broader philosophical view. Through science we are able to gain an understanding of the complex systems which shape our existence and the entire universe around us. Science symbolises hope."

While we all hope for a better future, Declan is actively involved in making this happen and it is very clear that the young student has a very bright future ahead of him.

$3.77 Million in ARC discovery projects awarded to Faculty

25th February, 2013

The Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment continues its excellent commitment to research in 2013 accompanied by a massive $3.77 million in research funding for ARCs discovery projects.

This impressive number is up on last year’s $2.5 million of discovery funding, and reflects the impressive research capabilities and talent within the Faculty.

The Australian Research Council’s discovery projects scheme aims to support excellent basic and applied research by individuals and teams; enhance the scale and focus of research in the national research priorities and encourage research and training in high-quality research environments.

Projects this year range from redesign of next generation biomaterials for heart valves, cartilage and bone to development of processes to neutralise Greenhouse gases and new more efficient means of storing data.

Over the next three years ten projects will commence across a range of disciplines within the faculty.

2013 ARC Discovery Projects

$810,000.00 Derivation and calculation of onsager transport coefficients in mass transport and thermotransport

$310,000.00 Fires of halogenated industrial chemicals and their impact on the Australian environment

$300,000.00 Hydrodynamic enhancement and transformation of flotation

$360,000.00 Non-destructive process for treatment of fluorinated greenhouse gases

$300,000.00 In situ neutron diffraction mapping of tri-axial stress distributions in particulate systems

$405,000.00 Structural reliability and remaining life estimation for deteriorating steel infrastructure

$330,000.00 Dynamics and feedback in networked biological systems

$420,000.00 Control, estimation and nanopositioning for high-throughput probe-storage

$305,000.00 Structural design of third generation biomaterials

$235,000.00 A novel route for the production of ethylene

Congratulations to all of our researchers who have received funding this year.

Students Researching to Rejuvenate Newcastle

13th February, 2013

Jasmine, Robertson and SachaStudents from the University of Newcastle’s Master of Architecture program have been challenged to map the history of one of Newcastle’s most iconic streets for an upcoming semi-permanent art installation aimed at rejuvenating the city.

The students, supervised by academic Chris Tucker undertook a summer research scholarship focused on Newcastle City Council’s "City Revolutions" project, a project focusing on revitalizing Newcastle’s original street, Watt Street.

The end-goal of the project will see Watt Street lit up with a combination of art and architecture, and it has seen the students researching the history of the street before habitation, settlement and into the modern era.

The project saw students Robertson Smith, Sacha Parkinson and Jasmine Richardson researching the way the street has evolved through historic maps, the state library’s resources and the University’s Flickr database.

Over their seven week scholarship the students overlayed historic maps, correlating with photographs and converting this data into CAD, with interest in tracking spatial development, the evolution of the facades of buildings and the spaces we chose not to build.

In addition to the historical research, graduating Master of Architecture student Gemma Savio researched interactive art and it’s application to the project, aiming to integrate an element of "play" to the delivery of the research of the other students.

"It’s a project that is aimed at revitalising the city through art and acknowledgment of our history, and that means people need to get engaged", Gemma said.

The summer scholarship has been a great experience for the students, solidifying the knowledge they’ve learned through their studies while still having time for a break between semesters.

"It’s great for flexibility – you’re still able to have a holiday around your work" Sacha said.

"I’m really grateful to the university and particularly our professors".

"The face to face time is invaluable" Robertson agreed.

The scholarships also serve as great tasters for postgraduate research in a university environment.

"It’s an excellent taster of the things you might be doing in an RHD situation – it gives you some direction as to what you might choose to study" Gemma explained.

"Students should really go for it... It's great to be able to be engaged in a real life situation" Jasmine said.

The City Revolutions project goes live by April. To find out more about summer research scholarships and to see other projects undertaken in 2013 check out The Summer Research Scholarships page.

Students Design Autonomous Vehicles

13th February, 2013

Richard and HaydenFourth year students in the University of Newcastle’s Electrical Engineering program have spent this summer holiday break designing a vehicle capable of detecting and avoiding incoming collisions.

The students, supervised by academics Jamil Khan, Colin Coates and Steve Mitchell undertook a summer research scholarship aimed at researching into the design of an autonomous electric car, focusing primarily on a collision detection system.

The students, Richard Mather and Hayden Domanti focused on building the collision detection system around a remote control car, a system that builds safety on top of manual driving control.

The potential possibilities for such a system include "Cars that are much safer, all of the time" Richard explained.

"A possible future for this project includes scaling up to cars that know where each other are, and can avoid crashes if a driver falls asleep or makes a wrong manoeuvre.

"Other prospects include things like cars moving aside for ambulances or police".

The students were drawn into the project by an interest in the possibilities of research and the chance to expand their employability.

"It’s definitely worthwhile to anybody considering postgraduate research." Richard said.

"It’s a perfect taste test for research and it’s a fun and independent way to work."

"We get to play with remote control cars- we really can’t complain!" – Hayden agreed.

"It’s a really great chance to apply the skills you’ve learned from your university courses in a really meaningful way."

To find out more about summer research scholarships and to see other projects undertaken in 2013 check out The Summer Research Scholarships page.

Mechatronics Summer Scholarship

13th February, 2013

JarrahUniversity of Newcastle graduating mechanical engineering student Jarrah Peddie has spent an exciting summer playing with Robots.

Jarrah undertook a summer research scholarship this semester break which investigated the teaching and learning possibilities of an industrial robotic manipulator, commonly used in the manufacture of cars, electronics etc.

Using an off the shelf hardware and software combination, Jarrah’s research has focused on the possibilities for application of the robot to students studying mechatronics.

It has been an exciting prospect for Jarrah, who has learnt a new programming language and investigated the applications in a university environment – from simple drawing tasks to designing problems that may be presented to an undergraduate student.

"It’s a very real environment for a Mechatronics engineer – these are the kind of robots that graduates will be working with.

"And it’s great fun - I'm playing with robots."

Summer research scholarships in Mechatronics Engineering are relatively competitive and the best chance is to ask an academic whose work you are interested in, Jarrah explains.

"Speak to an academic you know or find interesting – the path in is definitely via the supervisors, most are proposed via face to face contact.

"It’s definitely worth it if you have an interest in postgraduate studies - It’s a great insight into what a career in research is all about."

To find out more about summer research scholarships and to see other projects undertaken in 2013 check out The Summer Research Scholarships page.