Twenty-one-year-old Dion Hubers always wanted to know how things worked, so he's satisfied this desire by undertaking an apprenticeship as a maintenance and diagnostics engineer. And just a month away from finishing his four-year apprenticeship, Dion is about to head to Finland to compete in the World Skills competition, theOlympics of trade skills.
"I always wanted to understand machinery, engines and how things worked,'' he says. "I'm also a bit of a perfectionist. I'm competing at World Skills in the welding division, which is an ideal fit for me. It's very difficult to get a perfect finished result in welding so I'm constantly striving for perfection, it's a great challenge.''
Dion attended Waiuku College and undertook his apprenticeship through ATNZ (Apprentice Training New Zealand), a non-profit organisation that employs engineering apprentices and seconds them into companies.
Dion is completing his apprenticeship at NZ Steel, and he says the company has been extremely supportive of his upcoming competition, shifting him around on different jobs and locations in order to get as much welding time as possible.
"I have been in training for the competition since the end of last year. Basically my training involves being comfortable around my equipment and the welding job at hand. The more comfortable you become, the easier it becomes and the better the finish.''
Dion will be competing against 24 other contenders from around the world at the World Skills competition, which will be held in Helsinki, Finland, from May 26-29.
