The Regional WorldSkills competition for ACT’s Refrigeration and Air Conditioning apprentices has awarded Ryan Hanns as the winner.
All apprentices, currently studying for the Certificate 3 in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning at the Canberra Institute of Technology were requested to demonstrate a variety of real-life refrigeration and air conditioning tasks.
Ryan beat seven students vying for the top accolade – three third year and four second year apprentices at the event. He said, “It is incredibly humbling to win this award and compete against the very best in the state. I love my apprenticeship and take great pride in it. To be recognised at a state level is a significant achievement. I’m looking forward to competing on the national stage in 2020.”
Adrian Anderson, one of the judges and Business Unit Manager – Canberra at Grosvenor Engineering Group said, “The apprentices of today hold the future wellbeing of our industry for tomorrow. This competition is a very useful and excellent scheme that allows competing apprentices to measure their current abilities and try complex tasks and practical challenges.
“The level of skill on display was excellent with three contestants displaying exceptional talent. It was clear that they had a strong sense of their work which enabled them to visualise tasks, structure and thoughts with the working knowledge they have gained from their apprenticeship.”
He added, “It is an excellent scheme for apprentices to be immersed in a supportive environment that provides them with autonomy that they are not yet allowed, whilst giving them the freedom to make mistakes without detrimental consequences.
“Employers across the industry need to be more engaged with the learning needs of their apprentices to foster well rounded tradespeople. The WorldSkills competition provides a good gauge on where employers and apprentices need to focus to raise industry benchmarks.”
Lesa Cockburn, Teacher Electrical/Refrigeration Trades at the Canberra Institute of Technology, comments, “WorldSkills has been running for nearly 40 years and is a great way for top young apprentice talent to showcase their skills. The competition is useful for both our students and future employers. For competitors it gives them the opportunity to showcase their skills and for employers to witness first-hand the skill level of our future tradespeople.”
The independent judges score the apprentices against marking criteria provided by WorldSkills, with the highest point scorer winning the competition.
WorldSkills is a competition held across many vocational qualifications with the winning students competing in the national competition which will take place at the Air Conditioning, Refrigeration and Building Services Expo in Melbourne in May 2020.
For further information visit: www.worldskills.org.au
