Swinburne finalists prepare for WorldSkills Australia National Competition
In Summary
The 2014 WorldSkills Australia National Competition will feature finalists from Swinburne University of Technology in the categories of Landscape Construction and Turning.
Held in Perth from 18-19 September, the competition - dubbed ‘The Ultimate Skills Challenge’ - will give 500 of Australia’s best trainees, apprentices and students the opportunity to benchmark their skills against their peers.
Landscape construction student Lachlan Samers qualified after winning the Victorian WorldSkills Competition held at the 2013 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.
“I’m pretty excited for the National Competition. It’s a great opportunity and hopefully I come out with a win,” Lachlan said.
Lachlan is a fourth year landscaping apprentice with Esjay Landscapes in Melbourne, undertaking a Certificate III in Landscape Construction at Swinburne's Wantirna campus.
He has also been nominated for the 2014 Australian Apprentice of the Year Award.
Melinda Lethbridge, a young turner who now works as a fitter and machinist at Hargo Engineering based in Croydon will also be putting her skills to the test.
Melinda completed her Certificate III in Engineering Mechanical Trade at Swinburne’s Croydon campus.
“I’m currently training to fine tune my skills for the national stage. This an exciting chance for me as winning this competition could see me representing the Australian manufacturing industry internationally as well as opening doors for my career,” Melinda said.
She has also been nominated for the 2014 Victorian Training Award’s Apprentice of the Year.
A select group of gold winning students from the WorldSkills Australia National Competition will also be chosen to become a trade Skillaroo to represent Australia at the WorldSkills International Competition in Brazil in 2015.
Photo by WorldSkills Australia. All rights reserved. Used by permission.