Local Community Outreach for Energy Efficiency

The University of Newcastle delivers community and school outreach that helps people explore energy efficiency, clean energy technologies and the role of engineering in a lower-emissions future.

Clean energy innovation in the Hunter

On 2 April 2025, the University's I2N Startup Stories program at the Honeysuckle Innovation Hub featured University alumnus Peter Richardson, founder and CEO of Facet Amtech. The public event explored how a Newcastle cleantech startup is making ammonia production cleaner and more energy efficient, using less energy while reducing emissions and manufacturing costs.

The session connected clean-energy research and entrepreneurship with the Hunter's startup community, showing how energy-efficiency innovation can move from the laboratory into practical industrial applications.

Peter Richardson, founder and CEO of Facet Amtech.

Peter Richardson, founder and CEO of Facet Amtech.

Energy learning through the Science and Engineering Challenge

The University's Science and Engineering Challenge is a nationwide STEM outreach program delivered in partnership with communities, Rotary clubs, universities and sponsors. In 2025, more than 26,800 students from over 873 schools took part, including Challenge and Discovery Days in Newcastle, the Central Coast and other regional communities.

Energy and sustainability are built into the program's hands-on activities. In ElectraCITY, students design an electricity network for a model city and must find the most efficient, lowest-cost way to supply buildings while accounting for cable resistance and infrastructure costs. Other activities include wind-turbine design and environmentally responsive housing.

The 2025 event calendar included Newcastle Challenge Days from 4-10 April and Newcastle Discovery Days from 8-12 September, alongside events throughout New South Wales and every Australian state and territory.

The National Science and Engineering Challenge

The National Science and Engineering Challenge

Building energy literacy through practical outreach

These programs give school students, community members, innovators and local industry practical ways to engage with energy efficiency and clean-energy solutions. They connect technical concepts with real-world decisions about electricity use, industrial processes, renewable technologies and sustainable design.

2024 Annual Spring School

The University of Newcastle's centre for organic electronics (COE) successfully hosted its 14th annual spring school. In 2024, this three-day event provided undergraduate students from various disciplines, including Science, Math, IT, Engineering, and Medical Sciences, with an opportunity to explore cutting-edge research in organic electronics. The program featured lectures from local and international experts, hands-on experiences in COE labs, and interactive think tank sessions aimed at inspiring students to pursue research careers. Highlights included fabricating organic solar cells, operating advanced microscopes, racing simulated EV cars, and learning about Printed Solar and its recycling. Accredited by CIFAL Newcastle and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), students received formal recognition for their participation. The event, sponsored by Spruson & Ferguson Intellectual Property and the Australian National Fabrication Facility, saw students awarded for solar cell efficiency and EV racing. Following the event’s success, many students expressed interest in continuing their research journey with the COE.

Group photo.

Person at computer.

Video