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MEDIA INVITE: Albury & Wodonga students get a taste of STEM as UNSW brings electric race car to local schools

UNSW Sydney

Key Facts:

• UNSW Redback Racing team to visit Albury & Wodonga schools with their electric race car to demystify uni life, highlight alternative entry pathways and challenge stereotypes about who can become an engineer.
• The outreach initiative 'Race to Opportunity' targets students from low socioeconomic, rural and regional communities through hands-on experiences.
• The program has doubled UNSW Engineering enrolments from participating schools since its 2022 launch, engaging over 3,500 students.
• Three-day visit includes sessions at The Scots Albury, Wodonga Senior Secondary College, Albury High School and Trinity Anglican College.

Students from the UNSW Redback Racing team will visit Albury & Wodonga this week to give high schoolers taste of the excitement of uni life and the interesting careers it can lead to. We invite media to join us.

Redback Racing – made up of students from UNSW’s Engineering, Science and Business faculties – will visit local high schools with their high-performance, all-electric formula race car. They’ll give students a fun, hands-on experience and show them how inspiring a future in STEM can be.

The visit is part of UNSW’s ‘Race to Opportunity’ outreach initiative that engages students from low socioeconomic status (SES), rural and regional communities – cohorts historically underrepresented in engineering education. The university students visit high schools across rural NSW and UNSW Gateway partner schools to build aspiration, confidence and belonging by showcasing real-world engineering through direct engagement with student-led project teams. They aim to demystify university life, highlight alternative entry pathways and challenge stereotypes about who can become an engineer.

 

Evidence/results: Since its launch in 2022, Race to Opportunity has engaged more than 3,500 students across nine regional high schools and at a major careers expo. The program has doubled first-year UNSW Engineering enrolments from participating schools since it started. It’s just one of the many initiatives in pursuit of UNSW’s Gateway equity target – to increase the proportion of commencing domestic undergraduates from low-socioeconomic backgrounds and/or socio-educationally disadvantaged school to 25% by 2027.

 

Schedule:

 

Wednesday 13 August	9am – 10am	The Scots Albury
Thursday 14 August	9.30am – 3pm	Careers in Industry Expo at Wodonga Senior Secondary College
Friday 15 August	9am – 10am   12.50pm – 1.50pm	Albury High School   Trinity Anglican College

 

Interview opportunities:

• UNSW Redback Racing students — can talk about their journey of coming from low socioeconomic status, rural and regional communities to university life at UNSW.
• Dr Darson Li, Senior Lecturer at UNSW’s School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering – can talk about the visits’ benefits for the high school students, particularly among students who previously viewed university as inaccessible or irrelevant.
• High school students – to be confirmed with individual schools.

Contact details:

Louise Templeton
Communications Officer, UNSW Sydney [email protected]
0413 495 994