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AMC and TAFE SA engineer new partnership

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Launch of engineering education pathways to deliver advanced maritime workforce

New engineering education pathways between the Australian Maritime College (AMC) and TAFE SA will help deliver an advanced maritime workforce for the $90 billion Naval Shipbuilding Program.

The new pathway program is designed to help meet the workforce demands created by the build of 12 Offshore Patrol Vessels, 9 Hunter Class anti-submarine frigates, 12 Future submarines, and 21 Pacific Patrol boats.

To help turn this ambitious build program into reality, AMC and TAFE SA have created a flexible education pathway aimed at encouraging students to complete the courses they will need to qualify for future jobs.

In front of students and staff from 20 South Australian schools it was announced that graduates of seven TAFE SA programs would now qualify for automatic entry into the AMC’s world-famous degree programs. They will also receive credits that shorten the time it takes to complete their degrees by up-to one third.

The Associate Degrees in Electronic Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Civil Construction (Design Drafting) and (Site Management) have been mapped for automatic entry with credit into AMC’s maritime engineering programs.  

The Diploma of Engineering –Technical and the Diploma of Project Management have been mapped with automatic entry with credit into the AMC maritime and logistics management degree.

AMC Principal Michael van Balen AO said the maritime industry was in a transformative phase.

"The shipyard of the future is becoming increasingly digitised and the demand for people with advanced skills and capabilities is intensifying," he said.  

'The purpose of this education pathway program is to make sure that a young person in Adelaide, who might want to start in welding, is given every opportunity possible to keep upskilling and if desired to move into other fields of the maritime industry as their personal skills, confidence and expertise grows."  

Penny Johnston, Director of Defence Industries at TAFE SA said “the education pathway established in Adelaide will help students in South Australia and beyond to get a job in the massive ship and submarine building program that is underway in this state.

“These are more than just jobs, they are career pathways that will be ongoing for the next 20-30 years.

"It is our intention to make sure that as much of the workforce as possible is Australian, and that South Australians are given every opportunity possible to get the qualifications they need to participate in these incredible projects”.

Full pathway details are available at http://bit.ly/2GF7ftk

Published on: 01 Aug 2019