• AREMA president, Mark Padwick (right) and Greg Picker
    AREMA president, Mark Padwick (right) and Greg Picker
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Nominations are now open for the 2018 Industry Educational Trade Scholarship.

Now in its third year, the scholarship provides students studying commercial refrigeration and air conditioning through TAFE the opportunity to train at one of the industry’s premier educational institutions – the Refrigeration and Climate Control Centre of Excellence (RCCC) in Melbourne.

The program was created by leading industry associations the Air Conditioning and Mechanical Contractors Association (AMCA) and the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Equipment Manufacturers Association of Australia (AREMA). It is supported by the Air Conditioning Refrigeration and Building Services (ARBS) Education and Research Foundation.

The launch of the 2018 scholarship follows the success of the program over the past two years – where students and their teachers from TAFE colleges across Australia participated in a two-week residential course at the RCCC.

Winning recipients will be announced in March. The aim of the Industry Educational Trade Scholarship is to increase the quality of trained tradespeople in the industry and support the professional development of teachers.

The scholarship covers tuition, travel, meals, accommodation and training resources for both the students and their accompanying teachers.

It embodies eight key units of competency from the Master Refrigeration program developed by RCCC. Students will be enrolled by Box Hill Institute and issued a Statement of Attainment on completion of all units of competency. The 2018 two-week course will be conducted in July and October.

Applicants must be in the third year of a Certificate III in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration apprenticeship at the time of being awarded the scholarship.

AREMA President, Mark Padwick, said the association was delighted to continue its support for this ‘important and relevant’ program.

“Previous scholarship recipients have expressed how invaluable this training is, and how it can be applied directly in the workplace. This is a huge incentive for AREMA to keep supporting this program,” he said.

ARBS chair, Ian Hopkins, said the scholarship is helping to unearth the future ambassadors of  the HVACR industry.