School students from across NSW showcased their engineering skills and creativity as they raced self-built solar-powered cars and boats at the 2026 Sunsprint competition hosted by UNSW Sydney.
Hundreds of young engineers put their skills and designs to the test at the annual Sunsprint challenge – working in teams to build and race miniature vehicles powered by the sun.
SunSprint provides students with hands-on experience in STEM, encouraging them to explore renewable energy, develop problem-solving skills and discover what it takes to turn an idea into a working design.
Open to primary and high school students, the competition features several challenges that test different aspects of engineering, from speed and vehicle design to construction and performance.
“The idea of this event is to bring kids together, and help teach them how to work as a group in order to build something that is powered by renewable PV,” said Professor Ziv Hameiri, one of the organisers of the event from UNSW’s School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering.
“Through the process, they also get to learn about the big picture of climate change and renewables, with the aim that they will take this passion keep on studying subjects related to engineering or science.
“This year’s event was the biggest one ever with more than 620 students, and 250 teams, taking part across the 10 events.
“And to showcase that engineering is for everyone, in the main event – the National 100m competition – we had a team of girls take out the victory.”
That winning team was from All Saints Grammar in Belmore, as team members Michaela and Celia successfully built the best car racing around a 100m figure-of-eight track.
Cars in this event are built to Australian-International Model Solar Challenge specifications, with students typically spending months designing, constructing and refining their vehicles in preparation for competition.
The victorious All Saints team will now go on to represent NSW at the National Championships in Hobart in December.
Joining them there will be five other NSW teams, including the runners-up and third-placed teams in the 100m event, both from Strathfield South High School.
The SPREE Solar Bus event challenges teams to build solar-powered utility vehicles, with judging taking into account not only speed but also appearance and the engineering involved in the design.
Charlotte, Janelle, Sara and Isabelle from Queenwood School in Mosman were the winners in this category.
In the Open Solar Car category, where speed takes centre stage and there are no restrictions on vehicle size or power, All Saints Grammar again claimed victory with Roadrunner, driven by Peter.
With more powerful cars capable of reaching higher speeds, successful designs must balance performance with the challenge of keeping the vehicle on the track.
Sunsprint also gives students the opportunity to put their engineering skills to work in a series of additional challenges.
In the Primary 20 Drag event, Casula Public School took first place with a winning team comprised of Nabisha, Sanat, Jorgia and Vismaya.
Amity College from Prestons claimed the High School 20 Drag title with their vehicle built by team members Alhan and Sarrina.
The drag races challenge students to build cars from kit materials and race them along a 20-metre straight track, testing their ability to produce a vehicle that performs effectively over a short distance.
The Solar Pursuit competition presents a different challenge. Student-designed cars chase one another around a large oval track, with the aim of catching up to and touching the opposing vehicle.
Laguna Street Public School won the Primary Pursuit category as team members Archie, Jaxon and Wyatt worked together to secure the victory.
In the High School Pursuit category, Ilyas and Malik from Amity College claimed first place.
The competition also extends beyond land-based vehicles, with students designing and racing solar-powered boats in a special 10-metre pool.
Using fishing line to steer their creations, teams must develop boats capable of travelling efficiently through the water while harnessing energy from the sun.
Casula Public School won the Primary Boats 10m category with BBB. The winning team comprised Aayansh, Faizan, Kayden and Mahrur.
In the High School Boats 10m event, Eden and Angela from Queenwood took first place.
Sunsprint is organised by Michael Richards and Prof. Hameiri with support from the Faculty of Engineering.
“Once again this was a great event and everyone had so much fun building and racing their solar-powered machines,” said Richards.