MIGAS Scholarships Set Top Apprentices Up for the Future

Eight apprentices and trainees from across Australia have been awarded scholarship prizes under the MIGAS MiScholarship Program.

MiScholarships include financial support and professional development funding totalling $15,000 to help set them up for their future.

The scholarships were awarded by MIGAS Apprentices & Trainees across six categories to high achievers who have also faced personal adversity and challenges to completing their trade training.

MIGAS Managing Director, Rod Margetts, said the scholarships were MIGAS’s way of throwing the spotlight on apprenticeship talent in this country and investing in their future at the same time.

“We know that apprenticeships are all about training the next generation of Australia’s skilled workforce,” Mr Margetts said.

“Those undertaking their training now will be the future workforce for major infrastructure and public works projects, a driving force in continued manufacturing innovation, and starting their own small business to continue the apprentice employment cycle.

“A major component of an apprenticeship or traineeship is the practical on-the-job work undertaken onsite with an industry host employer, so we were thrilled to see MIGAS host employers get behind the scholarship program by nominating apprentices for a scholarship,” Mr Margetts said.

The scholarship application process was also a chance for apprentice and trainee nominees to reflect on the challenges they’d overcome in pursuing a career in skilled trades.

Candace Smith, a third-year boilermaker apprentice based in Tomago, New South Wales and recipient of the MIGAS Woman in Trades Scholarship had a rocky start to her trades career.

“When I first started my apprenticeship, I was told so many times that women don’t belong in this environment that I eventually gave it up. But my passion for my trade was stronger than one person’s opinion, and now I’m with a new employer Civmec, where I feel really valued along with awesome support from the MIGAS team,” Candace said.

“The scholarship will really help me pursue my career dream to become a qualified underwater welder and work on big ships,” she said.

MIGAS is a leading employer of apprentices and trainees Australia-wide and has been showcasing apprentice and trainee talent through its Excellence in Trades Awards for close to 20 years.

2017 Excellence in Trades Scholarship Recipients

Excellence in Trades Final Year
Adam Blackman, Fitting and Turning Apprentice, Caltex Refinery, Lytton QLD             

Excellence in Trades Third Year
Mark Jeans, Third Year Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Apprentice, Johnson Controls, North Ryde NSW      

Indigenous Apprentice
Dan-nar-leigh Crouch, Second Year Fitting and Turning Apprentice, University of Qld Faculty of Science, St Lucia QLD

Woman in Trades
Candace Smith, Third Year Boilermaker Apprentice, Civmec Construction and Engineering, Tomago NSW (pictured)

2nd Year Rising Star 
Jack Durand, Second Year Apprentice Electrician, JR Electrical, Illawong NSW

1st Year Rising Star 
Emma Scott, First Year Fitter and Turner Apprentice, QLD Brain Institute, St Lucia QLD

Rising Star Trainee
Renee Gibson, Business Administration Trainee, BOC Limited, Canning Vale WA

Notable mentions:
Clifton Ezra, Second Year Air-conditioning Apprentice, Johnson Controls, VIC

The MIGAS scholarship program is open to MIGAS employed apprentices and their host employers.