Craftsmanship, quality and professionalism were front and centre last night, with the winners of the 2022 Victorian and Tasmanian Welding Excellence Awards announced in Melbourne.
Weld Australia's Excellence Awards are the most prestigious event on the welding industry calendar. The Awards showcase and celebrate the world-class work being undertaken by local welders, fabricators and industry educators.
According to Weld Australia's CEO, Geoff Crittenden, "Weld Australia's 2022 Welding Excellence Awards celebrate the incredible work of Australia's welders and fabricators. The Awards recognise and reward professionals whose dedication, skill, and teamwork speak for themselves."
"This year's Victorian and Tasmanian winners feature businesses and people committed to the pursuit of innovative, sustainable solutions that minimise risk and maximise project outcomes, as well as initiatives designed to increase the breadth and depth of skilled labour within the welding sector," Crittenden said.
UNEEK received the 2022 Project of the Year Award for the Electro-Optical Distributed Aperture System (EODAS). This system provides a 360-degree sensor suite for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and gives F-35 pilots unprecedented situational awareness to operate and navigate safely in any environment. In 2019, the manufacturer of the F35 joint strike fighter retendered the EODAS system, and UNEEK won the opportunity to manufacture the new coil for this advanced flight system.
Hofmann Engineering received the 2022 Company of the Year Award – Fabrication. Since 1969, Hofmann Engineering has provided specialist engineering services to Australia's industry leaders with a total focus on quality control in every aspect of manufacture, customer service and on time delivery. Their accreditation to ISO 3834 and EN 15085—among others—complements their total quality culture, and has seen them cement themselves as industry leaders.
Chisholm Institute received the 2022 Victorian Training and Education – Organisation Award. As one of Victoria's premier public vocational education and training providers, Chisholm Institute has worked diligently with the manufacturing industry over many years, and pride themselves on a record of providing quality education and training programs for the industry. In the last 12 months, their relationship with SEMMA, AMTIL and Ai Group has further reinforced Chisholm's desire to support the industry and deliver 'short and sharp' training programs to up-skill participants and help fill the growing skills gaps faced by the industry.
Incat Tasmania received the 2022 Tasmanian Training and Education – Organisation Award. Training is an integral element of Incat's success. Incat has a small, highly effective training team whose core focus is providing internal non-accredited training. In the 2022 financial year, approximately 75% of Incat employees attended training—equivalent to 900 hours of training per month.
Other 2022 Welding Excellence Award winners included:
- Mathew Billman from UNEEK Bending was named the 2022 Victorian Welding Professional of Year – Welding Coordinator.
- Basyl Jakimow from Welding Management Services was named the 2022 Victorian Welding Professional of Year – Welding Supervisor.
- Paul Gedye from Total Piping and Mechanical was named the 2022 Victorian Welding Professional of Year – Welding Inspector.
- Kiah McCreadie from Tasmanian Minerals Manufacturing and Energy Council was named the 2022 Tasmanian Welding Professional of Year – Welding Inspector.
- Simon King from Incat Tasmania received the 2022 Tasmanian Training and Education – Individual Teacher Award.
- Anthony Monagle from Federation TAFE received the 2022 Victorian Training and Education – Individual Teacher Award.
- BOC Gas & Gear - Albury-Wodonga received the 2022 Company of the Year Award – Gas and Gear.
- Ringwood Training received the 2022 Small Training Organisation Award.
- Robert Vernon from TAFE Gippsland received the 2022 CEO Special Award for Outstanding Dedicated Service to Welder Training.
