This event is run by the University of Newcastle and allows NSW high school students in Years 9 and 10 the chance to experience how science and engineering can help to solve real-world problems in a fun, competitive setting. Teams of students from different schools compete against each other in a series of eight challenges, including:

• Bridge: students construct a model bridge out of balsa wood and masking tape, which then has to support a railcar carrying increasingly heavy weights as it races across a test rig.
• Hover Frenzy: design, build and fly a model hovercraft that is fast, manoeuvrable and maintains hover height.
• Future Power: avoid a blackout in Future City by balancing energy needs and a range of power stations to choose from.
• Helter Skelter Shelter: towers are constructed from common materials and then tested for strength and stability, through the use of weights and a shaking base which simulates an earthquake.