TRC donates equipment to TAFE aiding engineering students
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A Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) apprentice has facilitated the donation of old pumps to TAFE Queensland to help students learn practical skills during their Certificate III in Engineering Mechanical Trade studies.
A TRC apprentice fitter and turner Chris Jones, who is currently undertaking the Cert III in Engineering at TAFE Queensland in Toowoomba, has organised with the help of his TRC supervisors to donate four centrifugal pumps that would have otherwise ended up as waste to benefit his classmates hands-on training.
“TAFE teachers have suggested that if we have things at work which are going to be scrapped, if we think they'd be useful for training, to ask about donating them to TAFE instead,” said Mr Jones.
One of Mr Jones’s TAFE Queensland engineering teachers, Mr Glen Holmes stated the donation represents an invaluable opportunity for students to train with industry-grade equipment.
“It [the donation] enhances their learning experience by providing exposure to tools and technologies they will encounter in the workforce, ultimately boosting their confidence and career readiness,” said Mr Holmes.
Students undertaking the Cert III will use the pumps to learn practical skills such as pump operation, maintenance and troubleshooting.
The collection of centrifugal pumps which were donated to TAFE, as they had reached their end of life, are widely used in industries like water treatment, manufacturing and the oil and gas industries and if purchased brand new could have cost TAFE Queensland a significant amount of money.
TAFE Queensland had been planning on purchasing new pumps for training purposes, so the TRC donation came at the right time.
Mr Jones said he was aware of the value of this donation and was happy he could help his fellow classmates whilst finding a purpose to re-use the pumps.
“… I understand the costs associated with purchasing new pumps to use for training purposes and [I] feel it’s a much better option to let other students learn a bit about something they might not have seen before instead of going out as scrap… when I see something which I think would be an appropriate learning aid and [I] save it from the scrap bin for a little longer.”
Portfolio and spokesperson for Water Infrastructure Services Councillor Bill Cahill said this donation was an example of Council wanting to help the community in any capacity they can. “This goes to show Council employees are always thinking about what’s best for others in the community and contemplating how they can make a difference with the resources available to us. I thank Chris and his managers for facilitating this donation to TAFE and I hope they get many years of use out of these pumps,” said Cr Cahill.
Mr Holmes said working with TRC was a great and seamless experience, unlike previous encounters with other organisations.
“[TRC] Their initiative and communication skills made this collaboration a success.”
“We just appreciate that both sides of management have come together and made this a really easy process for this to happen. We have tried to do it in the past and it seemed to be very complicated, where this has just been easy and it’s just happened…,” said Mr Holmes.
Mr Jones said he was happy he was able to do something nice.
Images:
TAFE Queensland Engineering teacher Mr Glen Holmes with one of his past students TRC apprentice fitter and turner Chris Jones with the largest of the TRC donated pumps. Mr Jones, Mr Holmes and TAFE Queensland Educational Team Leader for Engineering - Fitting and Machining Mr Jace Willocks with two different centrifugal pumps. Mr Jones, Mr Holmes and Mr Willocks with a group of engineering apprentices in the TAFE Queensland Automotive and Fitting/Turning workshop. Close up of one of the centrifugal pumps.