A unique aspect of UNSW's Faculty of Engineering is the range of hands-on, student-led projects that are offered as a way of learning and experiencing engineering.
Sunswift
Do you fancy racing a solar car to the top end of Australia? This project provides just that opportunity. Sunswift is a full-scale, multi-disciplinary, student-led engineering project. Students from a range of faculties from engineering to business form the UNSW Solar Racing Team. The current team includes students from photovoltaic, mechanical, aerospace, computer, software, electrical, materials, biomedical and bioinformatics engineering, industrial design, science, business, commerce, arts and architecture. They volunteer their time and skills to fund, design, build, equip and drive a state-of-the-art solar-powered car. The project provides an unprecedented theoretical-learning and hands-on experience for university students.
For more information please contact:
Web: http://www.sunswift.com
Robocup
This is a hotly contested international competition for four-legged robots - robodogs. Robocup is an international initiative that aims to foster artificial intelligence and robotics research. Fourth-year computer science and engineering students are required to program the dogs so they play tactically and intelligently. The dog has to be programmed to detect the ball, kick the ball, and understand when a kick is coming from a player on its own team. The UNSW team has achieved three firsts and two seconds over the last five years of international competition.
For more information please contact:
Web: http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~robocup
BlueSat
BlueSat involves the design,development and launch of a microsatellite. Managed and run entirely by UNSW students, Bluesat is part of The UNSW Laboratory for Student Space Development (ULSSD), a student-led umbrella body whose purpose is to foster the development of space-related projects at the university.
For more information please contact:
Web: http://www.bluesat.unsw.edu.au
Formula SAE
The annual Formula SAE-A competition requires engineering students from universities and colleges around Australia to design, construct and compete in a formula-style race car. The cars are based around a 600 cc engine, with some restrictions on the vehicle dimensions, but otherwise free reign is given to the designers to allow their innovative talents to be expressed. It gives students a rare and invaluable opportunity to gain practical experience in all aspects of a sophisticated engineering project.
For more information please contact:
Web: http://redback.unsw.edu.au/fsae/
Hovstar
Based in Aerospace Engineering, Hovstar is a student-run team that plans to design, build and test a tethered hovering platform (THP). One of its possible missions is providing communications and surveillance support for firefighters.
For more information please contact:
Web: http://webserver.mech.unsw.edu.au/Inetpub/userweb/hovstar/default.html
Developing country project
Run by the Centre for Photovoltaic Engineering, this project aims to assist villagers in developing countries to gain access to electricity to satisfy their energy needs in a clean and sustainable manner. Students run a project to broaden the use of solar power in Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the western world. In Nepal, they have already installed solar lighting in a remote village health centre and there are plans to expand that project.
Biodiesel
Biodiesel is an environmentally friendly fuel, and second-year photovoltaics students are designing a trailer which can act as a processing unit for biodiesel and also as a travelling education tool.
