50 University of Tasmania students have been developing innovative technology solutions to real-world energy challenges as part of the inaugural TasNetworks x UTAS x AWS Hackathon 2026.
Hosted at The Forest, the University's newly opened inner-city hub, the three-day Hackathon officially launched Monday 25 May 2026, bringing together industry, academia and technology leaders to foster innovation, build Tasmania's future digital workforce, and create pathways into the state's growing energy and technology sectors.
The Hackathon follows TasNetworks' internal Think Tank program held earlier this year, where employees from across the business pitched ideas and operational challenges directly to senior leadership.
Seven problem statements were selected to progress to the Hackathon, with students now tasked with developing prototype solutions using cloud and emerging technology tools.
The challenge areas span several real-world operational and environmental topics, including network data modelling, customer design processes, asset identification, and threatened bird protection initiatives.
TasNetworks Interim Chief Executive Officer Renée Anderson said the strong turnout and enthusiasm shown during today's launch highlighted the value of collaboration between industry, education and technology partners.
"Tasmania's energy network is changing rapidly, and technology will play an increasingly important role in how we plan, operate and deliver for customers," Ms Anderson said.
"Today's launch showcased the incredible talent and energy coming through Tasmania's ICT sector, and it was fantastic to see students already engaging deeply with these real-world challenges."
"What makes this particularly exciting is that the problems students are tackling have come directly from our people across the business, who identified opportunities to improve the way we work through our Think Tank program."
"The Hackathon is about building capability here in Tasmania, creating stronger pathways between education and industry, and giving students hands-on experience solving problems that matter."
Students worked in teams across the three-day event before presenting their solutions to a judging panel comprising representatives from TasNetworks, UTAS and AWS.
Solutions were assessed against a range of criteria including problem understanding, critical thinking, teamwork, architecture design, technical ambition, feasibility and presentation clarity.
The Hackathon is giving students a hands-on opportunity to apply their STEM skills to real industry challenges shaping Tasmania's energy future.
Professor Nicole Herbert, Head of the University of Tasmania's School of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), said experiences like this were critical to preparing students for the workforce.
"Hackathons like this help students turn STEM learning into real capability. They have to understand the problem, work as a team, make smart technical decisions and build something that can work in the real world," Professor Herbert said.
Professor Herbert said strong partnerships between universities and industry were essential to building Tasmania's future STEM workforce, creating clearer pathways from study into employment.
"When students can apply their skills to genuine industry problems, it builds confidence and capability and helps ensure Tasmania has the talent it needs to support emerging industries like energy and technology," she said.
The winning team will be offered paid internship opportunities with TasNetworks, alongside additional prizes including Amazon vouchers provided by AWS. Second place recipients will also receive the opportunity to have lunch with TasNetworks executives.
The Hackathon also forms part of a broader and ongoing partnership between TasNetworks and the University of Tasmania's School of ICT, focused on building digital and emerging technology capability within Tasmania's energy sector and creating stronger links between education and industry.
Several of the challenge statements explored during the Hackathon are also expected to progress into future School of ICT final year development projects projects across Semester 2 2026 and Semester 1 2027.
Madeleine Ogilvie, Minister for Innovation, Science and the Digital Economy attended the official launch alongside representatives from TasNetworks, UTAS and AWS.
