HVIA has announced four finalists for its new major award, which is open to all trades employed in the heavy vehicle industry.
The HVIA Heavy Vehicle Apprentice of the Year will be presented to an individual who has demonstrated exceptional ability as they undergo their apprenticeship in any discipline related to the heavy vehicle industry.
The award is open to final-year apprentices graduating in specialist roles such as auto-electrician, panel-beater, spray painter, draftsman, parts interpreter, engineer, refrigeration mechanic, warehouse and logistics, and more.
Winners in the Apprentice Technician and Trailer & Body Builder categories will also go into the running for the new HVIA Heavy Vehicle Apprentice of the Year Award.
The winners of the three apprentice award categories will receive a hosted VIP experience at the Gold Coast 500 Supercars event.
Category finalists and national winners will be revealed at the HVIA National Awards Gala Dinner in Brisbane on Thursday, December 5, 2024.
The 2024 finalists are:
Corin Brewer, The Drake Group (Wacol QLD)
Corin Brewer’s managers at The Drake Group have praised his exceptional technical aptitude, meticulous attention to detail and relentless pursuit of excellence.
“Corin consistently aims to ensure that the client experience with our after-sales repair team is exemplary, striving to make it as seamless and satisfying as the initial collection of their trailer,” The Drake Group said.
“His exceptional trailer repair knowledge, coupled with his unwavering dedication to exceeding client expectations, highlights his commitment to quality and service.”
Corin sees a great future for himself within the industry. “My main objective is to further my skillset within from these experts and steadily enhance my capabilities and strive to be the best tradesman possible,” he said.
“My long-term goal is to provide comprehensive support across production, service and repairs, and operational functions, both internally and externally.”
Toby Newcombe, Cummins South Pacific (Tamworth NSW)
Born into the industry, Toby Newman’s family operates a fleet of coaches. Being exposed to the family business from a young age, Toby’s technical aptitude is no surprise.
Since the second year of his apprenticeship Toby has been able to run complete engine overhaul repairs, guiding and directing the qualified tech on the repair.
He has demonstrated great attention to detail and his quality repair work has been singled out by customers. He has also shown exceptional skill in fault finding and diagnostics.
“You can always be confident that if Toby is on a repair it will be done right,” Cummins says.
Toby hopes to one day work his way up to workshop foreman and eventually into a service manager role.
“In five years I would like to be in a workshop role where I can help develop incoming apprentices how to conduct themselves in and around the workshop,” Toby said.
Adam Pearsall, Cummins South Pacific (Mildura VIC)
Cummins Mildura has praised Adam Pearsall’s proactive attitude, strong work ethic and particularly his influence on creating a positive team dynamic and culture.
Adam achieved an early apprenticeship sign-off thanks to his impressive growth in his skills and knowledge, mastering complex tasks including major engine repairs.
Adam’s supervisors say he is proactive for customers, trying to reduce their downtime during repairs, and never compromising high-quality results.
“He demonstrates flexibility and resilience to the changing environment,” they said.
“Adam has shown initiative in each task and displays a keen attitude for his own growth and development to seek out new learning opportunities.”
Adam aims to achieve a promotion at Cummins Mildura, advancing his career as a lead technician or supervisor where he can share his skills and be the point of help for anyone in the workplace.
He says he will embrace and take on leadership opportunities, mentoring and inspiring others to perform.
Samantha Santi, Cummins South Pacific (Newcastle NSW)
Samantha Santi has consistently exceeded expectations, achieving milestones well ahead of her current year level of learning within her apprenticeship, including performing qualified technician-level tasks during and beyond the third year of her apprenticeship.
Cummins Newcastle says Samantha has been a role model for other apprentices. She also regularly participates in community events promoting the heavy mechanical trade to others, particularly encouraging females to consider the same pathway.
She participated in the 2024 NASCA CareerFit Conference in the Cummins Powers Women Program. NASCA is a 100 per cent Indigenous-governed and led non-profit organisation, providing intensive, wrap-around support to young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, so they can thrive at school and beyond.
Samantha says her focus is currently on expanding her experience across a broader range of mechanical equipment and venturing further into fine-tuning her troubleshooting and diagnostics skills.
In five years’ time, Samantha hopes to be in a field service role. “Gaining distinctive skills and partaking in a plethora of unique jobs and challenges, whether it be on road train, agricultural equipment, generators or marine,” she said.
“One of my many loves is being able to help others, teach others and work within a team. I visualise myself taking on a supervisory or mentoring position where I can lead, pass on knowledge and tutor future apprentices and/or technicians to create an efficient and diverse team with excelling morale.
“In the long term, I want to study and enter an engineering department to gain knowledge and insight of the inner-workings and the design process of the machinery I work on.”
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