UNSW Engineering

💬 "There’s a limit to how much you can improve a country's productivity just through labour productivity alone, because I'm sure people probably don't feel that they can work that much harder than they currently are."

In the latest Engineering the Future podcast, Dr Sue Keay says AI could help address labour shortages in key industries, enabling organisations to do more with limited resources.

How artificial intelligence can best boost Australia’s future living standards Dr Sue Keay, Director of the UNSW AI Institute, says there is a limit to how much productivity can be improved by human effort alone.

Congratulations to Prof. Cyrille Boyer and Prof. Andrew Dzurak who have been elected 2026 Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science. 👏

Prof. Boyer is recognised for his pioneering new ways of using light and specialised chemical catalysts to create and manipulate polymers. Prof. Dzurak is a leader in the field of spin-based qubits, driving major advances in the quantum computing field.

Read more 🔗 https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2026/05/pioneering-unsw-researchers-elected-to-australian-academy-of-science

💬 "I really care about keeping Redback alive and preserving what makes it special, so future students can have the same opportunities."

When Chelsea Tran started her mechanical engineering degree at UNSW , she never imagined motorsport would become such a big part of her life. Five years later, she’s the Team Lead of UNSW Redback Racing, leading more than 150 students as they build not only a high-performance race car, but also a thriving community.

Chelsea's journey from Redback Racing member to team leader Student Spotlight is where we hear from UNSW students about their uni experience and their story of growth, resilience and development.

💬 "From the day I first stepped onto campus all those years ago, we were taught how to think differently: how to approach uncertainty, solve problems, and work as a team through complexity.

I still remember one particular group project where we were designing pipelines for a wastewater treatment plant. As I watched the debate unfold between my peers - people defending ideas, challenging assumptions, and weighing compromises - it suddenly hit me: we weren’t just students trying to finish an assignment anymore. We were already thinking and working like engineers. That was the moment I really felt the shift from student to engineer.

Looking back, I realise engineering was never just about learning technical content. It was a mindset that slowly became part of who I am. Even now, when I’m working on a policy piece, I still catch myself seeing everything as a process flow diagram. I instinctively break problems down into systems, look for bottlenecks, and think about trade-offs - and that’s the chemical engineer in me showing up again. I keep telling my wife that once you're an engineer, you're always an engineer." - Thomas Gao, Senior Manager Office of the NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer and UNSW School of Chemical Engineering alumnus

💬 "Getting the scholarship was one of the most life-changing things that has happened to me."

Mahmoud Qaddorah arrived in Australia in 2019 and once believed university was out of reach.

Now, with the support of the HMJ Sassafras Scholarship - which covers tuition, accommodation and living expenses for students from refugee and asylum-seeker backgrounds - he is pursuing a degree in Electrical Engineering at UNSW.

$6m gift to UNSW opens the door to university for refugee students The HMJ Sassafras Scholarship covers tuition, accommodation and living costs for students from refugee and asylum-seeker backgrounds.

A new study has revealed why women are more likely than men to have autoimmune diseases such as lupus and multiple sclerosis.

Researchers from UNSW and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research have discovered more than 1000 genetic switches that operate differently in female and male immune cells.

The researchers say the findings also highlight the need for both s*xes to be included in future medical research to fully understand fundamental biological variables.

Read more 🔗

Researchers uncover hidden s*x differences in the human immune system Women are more likely than men to develop autoimmune disease. New findings help explain why, in a field where s*x differences have often been overlooked.

👏 Congratulations to UNSW's Prof. Ashish Sharma who has received the 2026 Arid Lands award from the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Prof. Sharma investigates how floods and droughts will change as climate extremes intensify, and how they will impact vulnerable communities in remote and rural settings.

UNSW researcher wins top US award for pioneering work on water security Professor Ashish Sharma receives the 2026 Arid Lands award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

The UNSW Makerbus has been hitting the road across NSW! 🚐💡

At schools like Camden High School, students rolled up their sleeves to design and build their own lantern night lights.

Packed with tools and tech, our mobile workshop brings hands-on STEMM experiences straight to students, giving students the chance to learn, explore and prototype.

Where should we head to next?