Affordable and Clean Energy
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.
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
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.
COE, the University of Newcastle Australia 5:43
Learn more
News • 25 Jul 2025
University expands study options on the Central Coast from 2026
People on the Central Coast and beyond will have even more choice when it comes to study options, with the University of Newcastle today announcing the second stage of programs to be offered in the region from next year.
News • 18 Jul 2025
Pulsating microneedles painless alternative to traditional needles
A new transdermal drug delivery method using pulsating, fabricated microneedles presents a promising alternative to traditional painful subcutaneous injections.
News • 18 Jul 2025
From community roots to academic milestones: Bud Kelly’s journey to graduation
Proud Awabakal and Dhunghutti man, Raymond Kelly Junior, known to many as ‘Bud’, will graduate from Open Foundation at the University of Newcastle.
News • 17 Jul 2025
From boots to books, Ellie strives to make sports and law accessible to all
Ellie Jones strives to apply her understanding of the law far beyond corporate corridors and lofty courtrooms.
News • 16 Jul 2025
University receives Keys to the City in its 60th year
The University of Newcastle received the Keys to the City on Friday, marking six decades of transforming lives, driving innovation, and supporting growth across the Hunter region.
News • 16 Jul 2025
200,000 lives transformed: a historic graduation 60 years in the making
The University of Newcastle will reach a momentous milestone this week, celebrating 200,000 graduates in its 60th year as a university of – and for – its regions.
News • 15 Jul 2025
National TRaCE Showcase spotlights clean energy commercialisation
The Trailblazer for Recycling and Clean Energy (TRaCE) Program—led by UNSW Sydney and the University of Newcastle—marked the halfway point of its four-year initiative with a major technology showcase and the official opening of two new state-of-the-art facilities at the University of Newcastle today.
News • 14 Jul 2025
$1.5m grant to boost world-leading mineral processing technology
University of Newcastle Laureate Professor Kevin Galvin has been awarded an Australian Economic Accelerator (AEA) Innovation grant of more than $1.5m to advance technology that is critical in the mining and mineral processing industry.
News • 03 Jul 2025
Commonwealth Supported Place postgrad initiative empowers Kieran to pursue surgical dreams
Kieran Cubby, a proud Wiradjuri/Murrawarri man from Dubbo, is on a determined path to becoming an orthopaedic surgeon – a dream that once seemed out of reach.
News • 02 Jul 2025
Smarter water use helping University save water
The University of Newcastle is making significant strides in environmental sustainability, with a targeted 15% reduction in water use by the end of 2025. This ambitious goal, benchmarked against 2015 levels, reflects the University’s commitment to responsible water management and sustainable campus operations.
News • 01 Jul 2025
Team Wollotuka named back-to-back national champions
The University of Newcastle has been announced as the 2025 Indigenous Nationals winner for the second year in a row, after a group of talented students retained the trophy at the annual university sport games.
News • 26 Jun 2025
$1.27m ARC Linkage funding to improve animal health and grow Australia’s biomanufacturing capability
Delivering innovative solutions to improve food security, public health and environmental sustainability, two University of Newcastle research teams have secured more than $1.27million through the latest round of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Projects funding
The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.