Brandon Gillett, left, with Pete Buttenshaw. Picture: GREG TOTMAN
It's the Olympics for tradies and a Wollongong TAFE teacher has been picked as coach for one of Australia's top competitors.
Pete Buttenshaw, TAFE Illawarra project officer - mechanical technology and mining, is busy training Queensland's Brandon Gillett in preparation for the International WorldSkills Competition in Germany in July.
Mr Gillett, 21, is the first Australian competitor in the polymechanics/automation category of the event, which is billed as the "Skills Olympics".
The fitter and turner is being put through his paces by Mr Buttenshaw at Wollongong TAFE campus's state-of-the-art engineering facilities.
"WorldSkills grows skills in trade-based areas and allows young people to realise their potential, while it also opens up a lot of opportunities globally," Mr Buttenshaw said.
"Brandon won the gold medal at the national competition last September and we have been in training ever since for the international event, where he will face off against 13 competitors from countries across the globe.
"WorldSkills is the Olympics for tradespeople - but rather than running for 10 seconds in a straight line, they will be competing for four days straight."
Mr Gillett, who works for Boyne Smelters in Queensland, completed a Certificate III in Engineering at Gladstone TAFE last year.
"I've always wanted to get into this area of work, as I'm a very hands-on person," he said.
"It's great to have got this far in the competition, and just amazing to have the opportunity to compete at an international level - especially since it is the first time Australia has competed in this particular category."
Mr Buttenshaw, a WorldSkills international expert in polymechanics/automation, said each of the Australian competitors had been teamed up with an expert in their field.
"The 32 Skillaroos going to Germany have their own international expert who trains them for the six months in the lead-up to the competition," he said.
"I'm working with WorldSkills Australia, TAFE NSW, SAGE Didactic and local industry to support Brandon's training.
"This industry partnership also promotes manufacturing in the Illawarra and local area."
Mr Buttenshaw has every faith in his young student, and knows what he's going through, having won a gold medal in the regional WorldSkills competition as a young apprentice himself.
"The international competition will focus on very fine and accurate machining and Brandon is very particular about the way he does things," he said.
"He's progressed through regional and national competitions, and now he will be able to showcase his skills against the best in his field from across the world."
