Schneider extends academic partnership

Schneider Electric has formed an alliance with SkillsTech Australia, Queensland’s largest trade and technician training TAFE institute, to address Australia’s engineering skills shortage.

The alliance, which is the sixth such arrangement Schneider has formed with a tertiary institution, sees Schneider providing students with accredited training courses suitable for end users, engineers, system integrators and equipment manufacturers. Schneider will also donate new engineering software to SkillsTech.

Schneider now has academic partnerships with the following institutions: The University of Sydney, Chisholm Institute of TAFE, Box Hill Institute of TAFE, RMIT, SkillsTech Australia and Edith Cowan University.

“Rapid changes and growth in sectors such as mining, oil and gas, and engineering mean there are knowledge gaps in the workforce that need to be addressed,” said Scott Wooldridge, Vice President, Industry Business at Schneider Electric. “Our academic alliance program is focused on addressing those gaps and involves us working closely with Australian academic institutions so we can help upskill students - the future generation of engineers - with the skills required by industry.”

Wooldridge said Schneider hopes to form further partnerships and increase the number of students it helps.

“The training program we’ve developed with Schneider Electric plays an important role in ensuring education and training is relevant to the Queensland mining and process automation industry,” said Mary Campbell, Institute Director of SkillsTech Australia. “The program we offer provides participants with hands-on experience and the confidence to design and configure their own systems and applications using Schneider Electric products and solutions. It also means nationally recognised qualifications for Schneider Electric students, who receive industry-relevant training to Australian standards.”