TAFE teacher gets top award

A DANDENONG engineering trainer is the Australian Mechanical Trade Teacher of the Year.
The Institute for Trade Skills Excellence’s (ITSE) last week named Leigh Harris from the Chisholm Institute as the winner who will fly to Sydney to receive the award next week.
The award recognises Mr Harris’ strong industry links and highly skilled training practices in the areas of engineering and industrial automation.
“I am very proud to receive this award,” he said.
“It is good to get recognition for all the hard work we do to ensure the students get the most from their training and to spotlight the engineering sector as a whole.”
As secretary of the Victorian Engineering TAFE Teachers Senate, Mr Harris has become a key link between industry, government and training organisations and has expanded program delivery at Chisholm to accommodate skill shortage areas.
“I have adopted a mechatronics course at Chisholm for third year apprentices,” he said.
Mr Harris will travel to Sydney this month to receive his award on 29 October during the Manufacturing Skills Australia conference.