Introducing the UNSW First Nations Engineering and Science Society

Where did you get the idea to start the First Nations Engineering and Science Society?

H: Finesse , as we call it, grew out of an idea I had during Bindila last year. Bindila  is a business exchange program hosted by the UNSW First Nations Business Society (FNBS), the UNSW Business School and the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM). While Izy and I were in that program, we saw what FNBS were doing and thought it would be a good program for engineering to have as well. We had a few people from the Faculty of Science who also wanted to join, so now we represent the two faculties. 

I: Which is good because science and engineering do go hand in hand. You cannot have engineers without the scientists and vice versa. I also want to encourage more Indigenous students in Quantum Engineering!

Why is it important for First Nations engineering and science students to have their own society?

H: First Nations students often come from three main backgrounds. A lot of our students will fit into the first bracket – they are metropolitan and city students who are a member of a Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC). I’m a member of Gandangara . Those students will be very used to regular community events, regular participation with elders, various structured social events that keep them connected with  their culture.

The second are rural students. They may be a member of a LALC, but it would be smaller, or there may not be an existing body in their area. These students don’t necessarily have the more structured community events, but they will have familial interaction with their culture. 

Both groups of students, when they come to university, are taken out of their home communities. This is where FNESS can help. We want to be that community that allows you to contribute to your culture – the boomerang drone, for example, is continuing a legacy that has existed for years and years but was never built upon, and now we’re doing it. The social events and visibility events come from this idea that we can be who we are and be proud of who we are. 

And finally, the third category of students is what some people refer to as the modern stolen generation. It’s those who no longer have knowledge of who they are. For example, one of the members of our Executive Board was adopted when they were 12. Sometimes people have no idea where they are from and they come to us and say, “hey, what do we do?” 

I:  I grew up in Worimi country, however my family have just recently found out that we might be tied to Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay. In my case, my great-great grandmother, was part of the stolen generation. Knowledge has slowly trickled down to today, but every time you try to find out information you’re encouraged to talk to the family. But when the family is traumatised, no one wants to talk about it. Some members from my family, (especially the older members) are too scared to talk in case it has a negative impact on the family. Some societies ask you to provide documentation to prove you are indigenous, but to do that you need to know exactly where you come from. Something I often struggled with. I am still trying to learn my family’s past, but I hope to help others find theirs too. 

H: I would like the projects to be a more open space where Indigenous and non-Indigenous students can work together. And the social events are in a public space where literally anyone can walk up, and that’s the point. We want there to be a public recognition of this history, of these people and what they are doing.

What projects and events does FNESS have planned for its first year? 

H: Being an engineering and science-based society we have major projects that we will work on over time. So there is a student research project sub-body of FNESS, which is currently being occupied by the boomerang drone we’re working on with Dr Sonya Brown from the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering.  

We’re also looking at a Hackathon, coffee and yarn events, and the First Inventors Day in September. First Inventors Day is a showcase of First Nations innovation and engineering in our history. We chose to host this near David Unaipon’s birthday. He’s the man on the fifty dollar note, so a lot of people have seen him, but nobody seems to know what he actually did. One cool example is a pair of reciprocating sheep shears – that patent was listed by David Unaipon, but he was never able to make money from it. So there is a little bit of historical injustice that we’re going to talk about.