Trades Training Kick-Start Changing Lives in the Hutt Valley

18 DECEMBER 2015

Press Release: Trades Training Kick-Start Changing Lives in the Hutt Valley

Mechanical Engineering graduate Bernard Nanai is now part of the Hutt Valley’s burgeoning science and technology sector.

Bernard recently started a job at Contherm Scientific Ltd, a high-tech manufacturer of laboratory industrial equipment such as incubators, precision ovens and environmental chambers. Bernard is making full use of the skills he gained at the Wellington Institute of Technology (WelTec) in his new role, operating machinery, tooling and fabricating sheet metal for the equipment the company makes.

Nathan Reynolds Production Manager of Contherm says, “It is really great to have an initiative like the Maori and Pasifika Trades Training scheme which has the potential to encourage more people to pick up a career in engineering which they might not otherwise have the opportunity to do.”

“Everything you see here at the end has been fabricated by someone at Contherm’s workshop. We’ve done it all from start to finish and it’s something the company is really proud of. I’m just happy to be a part of that,” says Bernard Nanai who joined the firm fulltime in November.

“It’s all pretty much the same stuff you learn at WelTec, but you’re doing it every day so you really hone your skills.”

Having worked with other trades in the past, Bernard chose the Certificate in Mechanical Engineering (Level 3) because of the excellent prospects in this field.

“I’m good with my hands and I knew there were jobs in it,” says Bernard.

His young family – Bernard has three daughters – was the driver behind his decision to return to study.

“Family was the main reason I did my study. You have to provide for your family first so you need to have a good income and you need that bit of paper that says you have those skills.”

Bernard, who is of Samoan descent, was supported with a Māori and Pasifika Trades Training Scholarship, a government initiative that aims to get Māori and Pasifika students into trades.

“The scholarship is helping me even now. It means I don’t have to make repayments towards a student loan, which means more money a week for my family. It’s a huge amount of money you’re investing in. I was going to do the course anyway, but I would have had a much bigger student loan,” says Bernard.

“It really drove me to pass the course and I finished top of the class.”

He was supported throughout his study by WelTec’s Pasifika student mentor Windy Sione.

“I popped in monthly to catch up on how everything was going. I had to – having a family meant a busy schedule so I kept up that relationship with Windy in case something came up. As Pasifika people, that is how we are,” says Bernard.

As well as the support from WelTec’s Pasifika Centre, Bernard gained work experience early in his study through one of his tutors.

“Because my study was three days a week, I had two days free and asked my tutors for extra work. One of my tutors said, ‘Well, how about some work experience?’. I said ‘bring it on’.

“I got work experience with Contherm and at the end of the year, they gave me a job,” he says.

At WelTec, he gained skills in welding, machining and fabricating – all skills he’s using now. He also did his Site Safe passport covering all the health and safety needed for the workplace, as well as a first aid course.

“The tutors have great knowledge and huge experience. I was picking their brains all year. Now I can weld all three processes of welding and I’m doing it to a standard my boss is happy with.

“I’d definitely recommend it, especially to people returning to study. It wasn’t easy, but it’s worth it in the long run.”

ENDS

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