UNSW Shines Bright At Parliament House Showcase

Dozens of the University's brightest minds took centre stage at the annual UNSW Showcase at Parliament House, as the Education Minister praised UNSW for changing lives and transforming society.

UNSW Sydney was in the national spotlight this week, with more than 30 of its leading researchers and innovators presenting their work to federal politicians and key decision-makers in Canberra.

Now in its third year, the Showcase focused on productivity, highlighting UNSW expertise across fields including defence, healthcare, energy, artificial intelligence and more, and how this work is shaping Australia's future.

Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Attila Brungs told the audience that ideas developed at UNSW are driving progress across the nation.

"You look around this room today, and you can see what we at UNSW are doing to improve lives and simultaneously meet the productivity challenge: work on dementia, cancer survivorship, energy, better batteries, cyber security, AI, entrepreneurship, technology research, commercialisation, smart cities, housing, lifelong learning, advanced manufacturing and mental health," he said.

"All of those things are changing society - and all of them also lead to improved productivity and more prosperity."

Championing innovative and life-changing work

Prof. Brungs said UNSW builds productivity in two key ways: by educating the next generation and the existing workforce and secondly by driving innovation that lifts national prosperity. He encouraged the federal government to maintain its focus on supporting a more productive, efficient and inclusive society.

"Most countries around the world have done reports that the next generation is going to be worse off than their parents. We don't have to let that happen here in Australia - and this government doesn't intend to let it happen. So, our job as a university is to support you, to ensure that it doesn't happen here."

The Education Minister Jason Clare, a UNSW alum, shared his experience as the first in his family to attend university.

"This university, UNSW, changed my life - and helping more people to get to this university changes lives," he said.

The Minister also praised the quality and impact of UNSW research.

"What happens inside this university changes countries and helps to remake the world that we live in," he said.

"It's what you at UNSW did with solar panels, what you're doing with quantum or recycling. And I could say the same thing about every different display that's happening here today, and that's why this showcase is so important."

The Minister also commended UNSW's efforts to widen participation, noting the University is close to reaching its goal of having 25% of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds.

"When I talk about opening the doors of opportunity for more young people to get access to university, I'm talking about UNSW."

Third-year Mechanical Engineering student Chad Buckman, a proud Gomeroi man from Cobar in far western NSW, also addressed the event, sharing how UNSW has ignited his passion for learning and broadened his horizons.

"The people I've met and the opportunities the university has provided me have led to experiences I never thought were possible," he said.

"I've had the privilege of designing and building electric race cars with the UNSW Redback Racing Team. I've been the president of my college's residential society, and now I'm a resident advisor. I'm also an ambassador for the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering and for Nura Gili (UNSW's Indigenous Programs Centre)."

He joked that along with his extra-curricular activities - which also include playing representative netball and competing at the Indigenous Nationals sporting competition - he still has his priorities straight.

"I'm also currently on track to finish my degree!" he said.

"UNSW, through the scholarships they have provided and the programs they offer, has truly opened my eyes to possibilities I never imagined."