Clever Matthew knows the drill

By JOHN MASLIN John.maslin@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
IN THE arcane world of machining and toolmaking, young Matthew Russell can be considered to be at the leading edge.
Ask his boss and uncle Hugh Russell, who owns BOSS Engineering Services in Wanganui, what he thinks of his apprentice and he sums it up in one word: "Exceptional".
Matthew showed just how good he is as a machinist and toolmaker by winning a bronze medal at the WorldSkills competition in Shizuoka, Japan, earlier this month.
He was pitted against apprentices from all around the world and his medal was one of only three the New Zealand "Tool Blacks" collected in 11 days of intense competition. The team won a silver and two bronze medals in all. His third placing was in the polymechanics/automation contest. "I had four days to create a machine that was automated so it ran by itself," he told the Chronicle yesterday. "The competition was very tough, but I enjoyed it."
Matthew won a place on the team after winning a gold medal at the SkillEX national finals in September last year.
He's in the last year of a three-year apprenticeship at Boss Engineering and developed a skill for building tools at an early age. It runs in the family because he's following in the footsteps of his father and uncle who are both in the engineering business.
Mr Russell said his nephew was an "exceptional" apprentice and underlined his belief that tradesmen with that sort of talent "are born, not made".
"From a very early stage I knew he was going to be very good. He worked for me during school holidays and it showed then," he said.
The company provides specialist engineering services for a range of clients. Locally they include Wanganui Aero Work and the Axiam Group, as well as motorcycle and outboard motor suppliers around the country.