News & Events

Budding scientists and engineers converge on the University of Newcastle

More than 1,000 students from 40 high schools competed in the Ausgrid Newcastle Science and Engineering Challenge last month.

Founded in 2000 by the University of Newcastle, the program is now a national event, involving more than 800 schools, 22,000 high school students and 30 universities each year.

Science and Engineering Challenge Director, Dr Terry Burns of the University of Newcastle, said this was the first year that the event was held on-campus, adding that the Challenge was an important component of the University's science outreach program.

"The Science and Engineering Challenge addresses the skills shortage in science and engineering by inspiring young people to study mathematics, physics and chemistry in senior high school," Dr Burns said.

"A recent Australian Academy of Science survey found that science literacy had declined in the last three years. The Science and Engineering Challenge is an example of the University of Newcastle's efforts to foster aptitude in science and engineering."

A competitive environment is created as representative school teams are pitted against each other and against the clock in a range of science and engineering tasks.

"The Challenge also gives students an appreciation of what it would be like to work as an engineer or a scientist," Dr Burns said.

"The University of Newcastle's excellence in the areas of science and engineering enables us to create a rich learning environment for our Challenge participants and we are consistently impressed with the student's ingenuity and designs."