Automotive Engineering

Damon is from a family heavily involved in racing vehicles, so it was a natural progression for him to want to find out more about the automotive industry. Damon is finding the learning great at Trades Academy. A highlight for him has been to learn about calculations and compression ratios so that he can do some work on the family production vehicle at home.

“I enjoy the small class size and being able to ask questions when I get stuck. The class discussions are always interesting, the tutor shares anecdotes and goes into detail with his explanations.” In the future Damon would like an apprenticeship in automotive engineering and he feels that the Trades’ course has given him some a good set of skills to take into the industry.

The Automotive Trades programme has been a perfect opportunity for Raqual to add to her range of skills and experiences before she leaves school at the end of the year. “I enjoy the fact that it’s mostly practical, rather than lots of theory and I can use what I’m learning to fix my own car in the future”. One of the highlights for Raqual has been the opportunity to spend every Friday at NMIT, being treated like an adult student, spending time in a real-life work environment and having more freedom during the day. She speaks highly of her tutor who she says is welcoming and friendly and explains everything so clearly. “Pete’s really patient. He’s always encouraging, even when you lack confidence”.

Her advice to younger students is: “Take the opportunities you can while you’re still at school. You don’t know where they can lead to.”