Certificate II VET Engineering students are working hard to complete their final assessments, in a year that has seen the practical components of their course disrupted by long periods of remote learning.

BSSC Engineering teacher, Stuart Hamilton, said students were happy to be back in the Trade Training Centre and particularly keen to be using the newest piece of cutting-edge equipment in the workshop—a CNC Plasma cutter.

For their final assessment, students have designed, costed and planned the construction of a steel fire pit. The students created their design on computer software called AutoCAD, before transferring it to the Swift-Cut program that drives the plasma cutter

Year 12 student, Billy Goudie, said it was amazing to have access to state of the art equipment.

“When we get out into the industry, we won’t be cutting anything by hand,” Billy said. “We’ll be using equipment like this, so it’s fantastic to have this sort of experience at school.”

Blair McCormick, who was busy today welding the pieces of the fire pit he designed, said it was great to work in an environment where everything is industry standard.

“I’m not sure yet what I’ll do beyond Year 12,” he said. “I’m leaning towards outdoor work, rather than being in a factory or workshop, but I know everything we’re learning here is going to be really valuable out in the real world.”