Customer - Welcome to our 25th year!
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Welcome to 2025
A message from Emeritus Professor John O'Connor, the chair of SEC National Council.
Another year is emerging and the routine returns. Schools have started back, and the Challenge team have been preparing for another exciting year of Science and Engineering Challenges. Last year was a great success involving 24941 students at 88 events. This was made possible by the support of 2700 volunteers and numerous great sponsors without whom the Challenge team could not achieve what they have.
There were great outcomes in 2024, and we look forward to an even more exciting 2025. This is our 25th anniversary year and it is amazing to think back to when it all started that we did not realise then that it would have been such a wide-ranging success – success in the number of students involved, the number of states participating, the core support of Rotary and the generosity of the sponsors. Its longevity and recognition are also due to our overwhelming success at exceeding our goals of convincing students to change their misconceptions about what a career in science and engineering entails and thus study physics, chemistry and advanced mathematics in their final years of secondary education to keep these options open. In 2024 we updated our survey process to provide us with more timely and statistically significant measures of our success. This has reaffirmed that what we do matters and to extend it further we have updated our survey of commencing university students to gauge the longer-term impact.
This year is also going to be exciting as we commence our collaboration with Kimberlin Education funded by the federal government Schools Pathways Program to expand our engagement with schools and teachers. This will increase our joint impact on STEM outcomes for students and teachers across the country. Looking ahead at the many upcoming engagements across the country, the preparation, logistics, travel, planning, etc can seem daunting but the Challenge team is well organised and trained so they are well up to the task ahead. The whole process will culminate the 25th anniversary National Final to be held in Newcastle where it all started. Along the way there are still one or two surprises for 2025 which we cannot announce yet, but they are noteworthy, and we will tell you when they eventuate.
Now all that is much to anticipate but there more to come as we are now in the planning stages to hold the 2026 National Final in the Great Hall at Parliament House in Canberra to showcase the role of STEM in Australian education, industry and scientific endeavour. That would give real bragging rights for the schools who participate in that event. Start training now.
All the best for the participants and their teachers in 2025. Also, our grateful thanks to Rotary, volunteers and sponsors without whom we could not achieve what we have.
$1.9m funding boost for the Next Gen STEM program in schools
The Science and Engineering Challenge has been awarded $1.9 million funding as part of the Australian Government's School Pathways Program.
This funding will allow SEC to provide subsidies to support current events, and expand the program to include more event days and creation of Next Gen STEM: an online portal with resources for teachers, students and parents. The aim is to provide all students with access to STEM engagement!
SEC Team 2025
In 2024 we farewelled team leader Ayden Day as he moved on to new adventures. We welcome Olivia Clarkson as a new team leader in 2025. Olivia has a wealth of experience with the Science and Engineering Challenge, due to her work as an event assistant and casual team leader. Olivia has been leading the SMART program at the University of Newcastle for the last 6 months and we are excited to welcome her to the SEC team.
SEC team: Events manager: Mick Cassey, Team Leaders: Anna Popowicz, Lisa Campbell, Chris Hendry, Pete Newman and Olivia Clarkson.
2025 activities
In 2025, we welcome back an updated and improved Eco-Habitech activity where students will design and build an environmentally friendly house. They will need to be economical in their resource use and score points based on meeting the design specifications and passing a series of tests including wind resistance, water collection and strength.
2025 event calendar
Register for an event near you!
Our 2025 calendar of events is now live on our website. As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Science and Engineering Challenge, we are very excited that the National Final will be held in Newcastle on October 31.
Please remember that event dates are subject to change.
The SMART team have an exciting year ahead and it won’t be long before the SMART team hits the road again, bringing our fun and engaging science shows to schools across regional NSW—made possible by our incredible sponsors. STEM Club will also be running this year, and the Term 1 STEM Club program - Build your own Robo-pet: Coding and Robotics for Beginners - has already sold out. We are planning to repeat the program in Term 2, with first preference given to people already on the waitlist.
If you'd like to be added to the waitlist, please use the button below.
Calling all homeschool students
By popular demand, we are launching an exclusive STEM Club for homeschool students on campus during the day. We will offer exactly the same program as our regular Term 1 STEM Club - Build your own Robo-pet: Coding and Robotics for Beginners - but on five consecutive Monday mornings at 10:30am, commencing Monday 11 March. Bookings for Term 1 are now open. For further details or to purchase a ticket, click on the link below.
