It does through rotating on-site placements shared between employers from different industries.
Experts predict significant number of power engineers to leave industry over the next 10 years, and the program is a way of ensuring graduates are ready to step into their shoes, with WA’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry doing a lot of the heavy lifting for employers.
The three-year program has been developed in collaboration with CCI, Horizon Power and Engineers Australia.
CCI CEO Deidre Willmott said the expansive nature of the new training and employment model will give graduates a strong grounding in all aspects of power engineering, which will benefit the wider industry.
“Most graduate programs in WA have seen engineers develop niche qualifications that limit their career pathways and restrict the talent pool from which employers can recruit from,”
Willmott said.
“This new graduate program, a first of its kind for the power industry, will see graduates develop broad skills across design, generation, distribution and retail, which will create a wider and stronger talent pipeline for the future.”
WA energy minister Mike Nahan expressed the hope it would result in better outcomes being achieved for both employers and consumers.
“Collaboration of this kind is a fantastic step forward for the sector,” Dr Nahan said.
“Building a workforce of engineers with broad qualifications and extensive experience will strengthen the expertise of the power industry and will translate into better service delivery for consumers overall.”
Horizon Power boss Frank Tudor said the unique collaborative approach would help graduates achieve the all-important ‘Chartered’ status.
“Graduates will work on real projects for a host company that will allow them to contribute to achievement of challenging projects whilst exploring the full range of different career options available,” Tudor said.
Engineers Australia WA general manager Susan Kreemer Pickford said the graduate program would enable companies to attract the graduates they wanted, but were currently not in a position to employ on a full-time basis.
"For Engineers Australia, the program is an important part of our work in nurturing the next generation of innovative engineers and reinforcing the integrity of the profession," she said.
The program will be supported by a professional development program, designed and delivered by Engineers Australia.
Power engineers can work in power generation (both traditional and renewable sources), power distribution, power retail, mining and oil and gas and for government, regulators or in consulting.
