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 • 31 Jul 2026

National intelligence funding secured to turn hackers’ thinking against them

A University of Newcastle project designed to expose and exploit weaknesses in the way cyber attackers think has been awarded $783,409 Office of National Intelligence funding through the National Intelligence Discovery Grant program, funded by the Australian Government.

News • 30 Jul 2026

$4m in NHMRC grants to transform healthcare and disease prevention

University of Newcastle researchers have secured a total of more than $4 million in National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funding to support three projects across biomedical, clinical, public health and health services research.

News • 29 Jul 2026

National digital asthma trial helping adults to breathe easier

Asthma Australia and the University of Newcastle are inviting adults with asthma to take part in a national digital trial designed to make day-to-day asthma management easier.

News • 23 Jul 2026

University of Newcastle welcomes extension of prac payments

The University of Newcastle welcomes the Australian Government’s decision to expand the Commonwealth Prac Payment to students undertaking placements in …

News • 23 Jul 2026

Recipe for healthier kids: $4.9m research project to transform food and nutrition in Australian childcare

Healthy futures start on the plate, with a new NSW-wide collaboration set to improve nutrition for young Australians in childcare services - helping prevent chronic disease and securing their paths to stronger lifelong wellbeing.

News • 16 Jul 2026

Grassroots communities share storytelling to preserve environmental gems

A beautiful cross-cultural storytelling project facilitated by the University of Newcastle is amplifying the voices of climate-facing communities and deepening understanding of the environmental and cultural significance of wetlands and waterways across the Pacific.

News • 15 Jul 2026

MRFF funding to kick off brain cancer patient platform

A team of early career researchers is set to kick-start a new project aimed at delivering better outcomes for brain cancer patients with funding from the Medical Research Future Fund.

News • 10 Jul 2026

Hydro Harvester secures $1.9 million for WA farm trial

A University of Newcastle-led project that harvests water from the atmosphere has secured $1,904,166 funding through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund Drought Resilience Innovation Challenges Pilot Program.

News • 10 Jul 2026

Rare colour shifting discovered in iconic Australian frog

University of Newcastle researchers have documented one of the clearest examples of iridescence ever recorded in an amphibian, revealing that the endangered green and golden bell frog (Ranoidea aurea) possesses intricate colour-shifting skin previously unseen in the species.

News • 09 Jul 2026

National trial spotlights cultural safety in health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

A national trial of a new tool designed to measure cultural safety in health services from the perspective of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients, will aim to track progress and ultimately lift health outcomes.

News • 09 Jul 2026

Student-led design creates legacy for Newcastle City Campus

A new public gathering space integrating Newcastle’s First Nations’ and industrial heritage will become a centrepiece of the University’s city student accommodation, following a student-led design project delivered in partnership with industry.

News • 08 Jul 2026

Gift or loan? The legal grey area of the ‘bank of mum and dad’

A growing reliance on familial financial support is presenting unprecedented legal risks for Australian families, leaving both parents and adult children vulnerable to costly disputes and fractured relationships.