Design yourself a career in the robotics industry

For the first time, South West TAFE’s Portland campus is offering the opportunity to fast track your robotics skills to help you gain work in this growing field, while still including the more traditional streams of engineering, fabrication and machining.

South West TAFE engineering senior educator Mark Hutchinson said the Pre-Apprenticeship Certificate II in Engineering would give you foundation skills in robotics in just 12 weeks.

The newly restructured pre-apprenticeship course starts in Portland on May 28 and caters for people who want to learn a range of skills in basic engineering but have limited or no experience.

“It will give students skills using hand tools commonly found in industry as they build a four axis robotic arm and learn to program a multi-purpose robotic vehicle to undertake specific tasks.

“They then use a computer aided design program to create a range of technical drawings and create code to activate the robot,” Mr Hutchinson said.

The course provides educational pathways into the engineering field that include a Certificate III in Mechanical Engineering or Fabrication Engineering.

Mr Hutchinson said these qualifications could assist students who wanted to access higher qualifications including Certificate IV, Diploma and Bachelor levels. He said the Certificate II in Engineering may also assist students in gaining employment as an apprentice in the engineering field.

The Certificate II in Engineering is an accredited course endorsed by South West TAFE and ASQA. It was previously offered over a two-year period but will be available in a new, condensed format from May 28 at the Portland campus.

The course runs for 12 weeks on Mondays to Thursdays from 8am-5pm, with a two-week break in the middle of the course.

For further information, please contact South West TAFE on 1300 648 911 or email learn@swtafe.edu.au