A Dual Trade Electrical and Instrumentation Apprenticeship in Queensland
Current MIGAS apprentice and Awards Night nominee, Phil Balaban, is completing a dual trade apprenticeship in Electrical and Instrumentation at a host company in Brisbane, Queensland.
We recently spoke to Phil about how he started his trade and why it was the right choice for him.
Now in his 4th year in his apprenticeship, Phil says he originally tried his hand at university straight out of school but didn’t enjoy the lifestyle. He thought he might enjoy something a bit more hands on, so his brother recommended he give an apprenticeship a try. Phil started his dual trade apprenticeship with MIGAS in July 2012, and hasn’t looked back.
“I’m just trying to learn as much as I can, asking questions and doing my own research where I can if I don’t understand something straight away,” said Phil.
“Up until my apprenticeship, I wasn’t really passionate about what I did, but now I enjoy going to work and I wake up every day enthusiastic about the day. Now I’m working with my hands and I have something to show for it. I'm not just doing electrical stuff, there’s some fabrication involved as well and it’s given me that mindset of ‘I can fix this, let’s have a go’.”
Phil’s supervisor, Ian Dimmack, says that since Phil has arrived at Coogee Chemicals midway through his second year, he has proven himself to be an invaluable member of the Electrical and Instrumentation team.
“Recently, Phil was given the task of designing, building and programming a Programmable Logic Control (PLC) system prototype for the automatic ramping of rectifiers. The prototype was needed as the potentiometer controlling the wave rectifiers was bumped and left in a “ramped” position, causing a failure in the system. This resulted in considerable downtime and potential damage to the rectifiers. Phil was able to complete the task in a professional and timely manner, with the prototype now ready for production.”
Phil is currently on track to complete his apprenticeship in June 2017.
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