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.

COE, the University of Newcastle Australia 5:43



Learn more


News • 17 Apr 2025

Filling the gap – University’s vision for dental and oral health on the Coast

The University of Newcastle has today shared details of its vision for a dentistry school and 50-chair public dental clinic and training facility on the Central Coast to reduce waiting times and increase dental services for the region.

News • 15 Apr 2025

Get a university degree at the SCG

The Global Institute of Sport (GIS) and the University of Newcastle today announced a landmark partnership to establish a cutting-edge sports university campus in Sydney, leading the charge to develop talent for Australia’s rapidly expanding sports industry through the golden decade leading up to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

News • 10 Apr 2025

MHF Centre backs big ideas to beat brain cancer

Big ideas in brain cancer research have been fast-tracked by the University of Newcastle’s Mark Hughes Foundation Centre for Brain Cancer Research.

News • 10 Apr 2025

Skilled, inspired, and ready: Central Coast graduates make their mark

Nurses, teachers and oral health therapists will be among hundreds set to boost the workforce and make a difference on the Central Coast as they graduate from the University of Newcastle’s Ourimbah campus on Tuesday.

News • 08 Apr 2025

Long-spined sea urchin surprisingly not on the menu for large fish

New research has uncovered a crucial clue to understand the spread of ‘barrens’ in the Great Southern Reef, which are threatening the reef ecosystem.

News • 08 Apr 2025

Professor Willis earns top Australian science award for pioneering mathematics theory

Hailed as the creator of new mathematics, the University of Newcastle’s Emeritus Professor George Willis has been awarded the coveted Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal by the Australian Academy of Science.

News • 03 Apr 2025

National study confirms healthy eating linked to longevity in women

Australian women who eat mainly in line with Australian Dietary Guidelines or a Mediterranean-style diet* are 40% more likely to live until their mid-to-late 70s than those with poorer diets, according to the country’s largest analysis of women’s long-term dietary data published today in The Journal of Nutrition.1

News • 02 Apr 2025

nib funds local research to tackle chronic disease, mental health and knee replacements

A program that uses genetically guided health information to help people better manage chronic diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, along with two other specialist health programs at the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) have attracted funding from the nib foundation.

News • 01 Apr 2025

University of Newcastle appoints contractor to build new student accommodation

Work to deliver the new University of Newcastle City Campus Student Accommodation is one step closer with the recent appointment of Hansen Yuncken to deliver the main construction work.

News • 31 Mar 2025

Beyond the Spectacle: Events as Strategic Investments in Newcastle’s Future

A great event does more than entertain – it can shape a city’s future. With Newcastle increasing its investment in events, we have an opportunity to ensure events are not just one-time spectacles, but catalysts for long-term economic, social and cultural impact.

News • 27 Mar 2025

Indigenous-led quit smoking program upscales nationally to help close the gap

An Indigenous-led intervention program tackling smoking and vaping - the leading preventable cause of chronic disease and preventable death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people — will be upscaled nationally.

News • 17 Mar 2025

Global experts unite in Newcastle to decarbonise steelmaking

Newcastle will play host to world-leading researchers in sustainable steelmaking next week, as they tackle one of the world’s greatest industrial challenges – decarbonising the steel industry, which currently accounts for seven per cent of global CO2 emissions.