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 • 24 Oct 2018
The sickening truth about virtual reality
A new study has found that cybersickness, caused by exposure to virtual reality (VR), is the same clinical condition as classic motion sickness.
News • 22 Oct 2018
Adam Spencer inspires school students in STEM
Australian comedian, media personality and one of the world's best mathematics communicators, Adam Spencer, will educate and inspire Hunter school students in a series of problem solving sessions today.
News • 17 Oct 2018
Tourism student travelling towards a successful career
Third-year business student, Morgan Page, has her sights set on making her mark in the tourism industry after receiving a Minister’s Student Achiever Award last month.
News • 16 Oct 2018
Grandmothers deserve more recognition for caring
Grandmothers deserve more recognition for their role as caregivers and some are at risk of being overburdened, according to a report from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health.
News • 16 Oct 2018
Children's charity building on $2m foundation
There will be cheers, happy tears, canapés and cake when the Hunter Children’s Research Foundation (HCRF) holds its 2018 Awards Night on Thursday, 18 October, presenting $75,000 in new grant funding while announcing its latest ‘CARE’ research excellence winners.
News • 16 Oct 2018
Tsunami threat to Sydney intensifies need for increased awareness
Whirlpools at the Spit, inundation of Manly Corso and major disruptions are possible impacts revealed in a first-of-its-kind study into the tsunami threat to all of Sydney Harbour.
News • 13 Oct 2018
VR key to increasing resilience in Australian troops
UON researchers have secured $2.2 million to develop enhanced resilience training through the use of VR technology
News • 12 Oct 2018
Two researchers awarded prestigious Fellowship
Two University of Newcastle researchers are among 37 new Fellows elected to the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS) in recognition for their outstanding contributions to health and medical research.
News • 12 Oct 2018
2018 David Maddison lecture: And now for the next 40 years
Australia’s next generation of doctors, and those trusted to educate them, will face a new set of challenges as they …
News • 12 Oct 2018
Brain fertiliser nurtures new hope for stroke survivors
A hormone already at our fingertips could provide a simple answer for a first-of-its-kind treatment to promote ‘brain fertilisers’ and significantly improve quality of life for stroke survivors, potentially even months or years after experiencing a stroke
News • 04 Oct 2018
Study reveals which cup of coffee delivers the biggest caffeine kick
An Australian study has investigated five different types of popular coffee brewing methods to provide consumers with accurate information about their caffeine intake.
News • 03 Oct 2018
Excellence in chemical engineering solutions
Professor Behdad Moghtaderi has been recognised for the application of ingenuity and technical knowledge in developing practical solutions to industry problems or opportunities; receiving the prestigious ExxonMobil Award of Excellence in Chemical Engineering.
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.