Aaron encourages his students to believe in what’s possible

“I teach the engineering courses from Certificates II, III and IV levels through to the Diploma of Applied Technologies (MEM50822) at TAFE Queensland’s campuses in Ipswich, Toowoomba, Kingaroy, Roma and Dalby,” Aaron began.

“I teach because I feel that I can give students something more than what they believe that they can deliver. I want them to be able to believe that they can do all these other cool things that I was able to do,” he shared.

After earning his trade qualifications, Aaron joined the Australian Defence Force and later moved into the private sector. Throughout his career, he gravitated towards roles that involved mentoring his colleagues.

“When I finished my trade qualifications I went into the Army and I soon found myself naturally mentoring my engineering colleagues. When I eventually left the Australian Defence Force, I joined private industry and part of the role was working on government military vehicles — Bushmasters — that sort of stuff, and again over time I was sharing my skills and knowledge, operating informally as a teacher there too,” Aaron explained.

Eventually this natural pull towards educating others, translated into a Foundation Educator role at TAFE Queensland. 

“I've just always wanted to give back, and my TAFE Queensland Fitter and Turner teacher, who I had kept in regular contact with over the years, recommended that I give teaching a go,” Aaron said.

Aaron’s teacher suggested TAFE Queensland’s unique Foundation Educator program would be a great fit and could help him achieve a better work/life balance.

“I had been working incredibly long hours in my business, so my teacher encouraged me to apply for a teaching position through the Foundation Educator program.”

“I've loved it ever since,” shared Aaron.

“Obviously TAFE Queensland has done me wonders. I went through TAFE Queensland for both of my trades — fitter and turner and boilermaking — and now I just really enjoy the relationships I get to build.”

“I always develop a great rapport with my students. We have a good time, and we get to learn a lot of different things along the way,” Aaron offered.

With Aaron’s experience in CNC and robotics equipment, he is involved in leading the integration of advanced manufacturing technology and new educational units at TAFE Queensland’s Metal Trades, Manufacturing, and Robotics Centre at the Ipswich campus.

“At this moment, TAFE Queensland, in development with industry partners, is creating a Smart Factory at our Ipswich campus. Basically, the Smart Factory is a digitised manufacturing facility that uses connected devices, machinery and production systems to continuously collect and share data.” 

“It’s going to provide a lot of opportunities for all the students because not only are they going to be learning the fundamentals of robotics, electrotechnology and CNC, they're going to be able to remotely access this facility — wherever they are.” 

“TAFE Queensland will stay ahead of the game by doing this, by enveloping the robotics into their manufacturing training delivery.”

“At TAFE Queensland, the TAFE at School Certificate II in Autonomous Technologies (10935NAT) course and the Diploma of Applied Technologies (MEM50822) align directly with the Smart Factory, robotics, PLC, and electro technologies,” Aaron explained.

While Aaron looks forward to educating students in cutting-edge manufacturing technologies and processes to help shape the future of the industry, he also enjoys the workplace culture at TAFE Queensland.

“I'm a big believer in always learning something new. So the more study you can get under your belt, the better it is going to be for yourself in the long run — you never know where life's going to take you,” Aaron said.

“And at TAFE Queensland we have a good atmosphere, and we work hard to try and make our students become the best tradespeople they can be. The culture is fantastic,” he finished.