Regional engineering boosted - Windfarm skillbase

01-12-2006

Published in "The Standard".  Friday August 20, 2004 Page 5.

Regional Engineering Boosted

Windfarm Skill Base, by Vanessa Burrow

WIND energy projects received another boost yesterday when a state-of-the-art manufacturing training facility was launched at South West TAFE in Portland.

State Minister for Education and Training Lynne Kosky launched the Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) Technology Centre which had received $348,000 in government funding.

The facility, including a CNC lathe and machining centre, will allow students to learn skills in demand for tool manufacturers and engineering companies, including those for wind power.

Ms Kosky called wind power a "new, exciting and clean" industry and said the centre would train 50 new employees at Keppel Prince Engineering in Portland.

"It will boost engineering training opportunities in the south west and give employees the best possible skills," she said.

"That's good for students, business and the local economy."

"If parents could see these facilities, their view of engineering would change ... I think this facility is just as important as any opening any minister is involved in throughout the state." South West TAFE engineering industries manager, Andrew Kinnear, said students would be taught the principles of engineering before operating the new Okuma machinery.

"The skill set of a modern-day engineer is changing ... a  lot of parents think engineering is a dirty, heavy and grubby profession but a lot of it is (computer) based", he said.

Coinciding with the Portland TAFE open day, the launch attracted about 80 visitors from the education and engineering industries in the south-west.

South West TAFE director, Barrie Baker, said the update of their facilities underlined the significance of modern training and would allow students to learn on the current technology.

 

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