Whether they had a need for speed or an enthusiasm for engineering, Hastings Secondary College's best and brightest were inspired by an innovative Solar Car Workshop from the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

Students from the college’s Year 7 and 8 Zenith classes, which offer academic opportunities to extend and develop high potential and gifted (HPGE) students, as well as the top Year 9 and 10 classes and Year 11 Physics and Engineering subjects, were invited to take part in the event as part of the UNSW’s School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering Outreach Program.

Fourteen-year-old Deenesha Ravindren was unsure whether she would enjoy the workshop but quickly found herself drawn to the engineering and environmental aspects.

"It gives you a better understanding of how much our sun provides for us,” the aspiring Air Force jet pilot said.

"I would love more subjects to be more hands-on and help us learn about the environment we live in, help us get a better understanding of where we live and why we need to support our earth, seeing as it supports quite a lot for us."

Students at the college’s Port Macquarie and Westport campuses, on Birpai Country, worked in teams to design, build and test their own solar-powered cars, while exploring STEM concepts including renewable energy, engineering, aerodynamics and problem-solving.

Collaboration was a crucial element as the teams competed to see which designs could travel the fastest and most efficiently, before using what they learned and observed in the test runs to refine their designs while building their real-world problem-solving skills.

Hastings Secondary College science teacher and winner of the 2025 NSW Premier’s Prize for Science & Engineering Teaching, Ryland Connell, organised the workshops to provide the school’s students with an experience not readily available in regional NSW.

"The students are following the engineering flow process, where they're building, they're testing, and then they're going back to the drawing board to discover what works and what doesn't work, and how to iterate their design for the best possible solution," he said.

"There's very little guidance. This is coming down to the students competing against one another to come up with the best design, so the team that can really streamline design is going to be the one that is going to win the solar race in the end."

Hastings Secondary College has a strong STEM program with high performing robotics teams. Both are supported by the Hastings Academy of STEM Excellence.

Mr O’Connell hopes to develop an ongoing partnership between the college and UNSW School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, which is recognised as a world-leader in research and development in its field.