HVIA has this week announced the last of the finalists for the 2024 HVIA National Awards – the HVIA Heavy Vehicle Apprentice of the Year Award.
The Heavy Vehicle Apprentice of the Year is the new major award open to all trades employed by the heavy vehicle industry.
The award will be presented to an individual who has demonstrated exceptional ability as they undergo their apprenticeship in any discipline related to the heavy vehicle industry.
The award is open to final-year apprentices graduating in specialist roles such as auto-electrician, panel-beater, spray painter, draftsman, parts interpreter, engineer, refrigeration mechanic, warehouse and logistics, etc.
The winner of the Apprentice Technician and Trailer & Body Builder categories will each also go into the running for the new HVIA Heavy Vehicle Apprentice of the Year Award.
Congratulations to the 2024 finalists:
>> Toby Newcombe – Cummins South Pacific (Tamworth NSW)
>> Adam Pearsall – Cummins South Pacific (Mildura VIC)
>> Samantha Santi (pictured above) – Cummins South Pacific (Newcastle NSW)
Thanks to HVIA Principal Partner and National Awards major sponsor NTI, winners of the three apprentice award categories will each win a hosted VIP experience at the Gold Coast 500 Supercars event.
Category finalists and national winners will be honoured at the HVIA National Awards Gala Dinner in Brisbane on Thursday, December 5, 2024. Tickets are available for purchase here.
The HVIA National Awards are made possible through the support of HVIA Principal Partners NTI, Category Sponsors Caltex, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator and Wurth, and Event Partners Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre and TAFE Queensland.
The Finalists
Toby Newcombe
Cummins South Pacific (Tamworth NSW)
Cummins tells us Toby Newcombe was born into the industry, hailing from a family that own and operate a fleet of coaches. Having had exposure to the trade since very early in his life, Toby’s technical aptitude is no surprise.
Since the second year of his apprenticeship Toby has been able to run complete engine overhaul repairs, guiding and directing the qualified tech on the repair.
He has demonstrated great attention to detail and his quality repair work has been singled out by customers. He has also shown exceptional skill in fault finding and diagnostics.
“You can always be confident that if Toby is on a repair it will be done right,” Cummins says.
Toby aims to become a workshop foreman and eventually into a service manager role.
“In five years I would like to be in a workshop role where I can help develop incoming apprentices how to conduct themselves in and around the workshop,” Toby tells us.
Adam Pearsall
Cummins South Pacific (Mildura VIC)
Cummins Mildura wanted to recognise Adam Pearsall’s hard work and dedication. They praise his proactive attitude, strong work ethic and particularly his influence on creating a positive team dynamic and culture.
Adam achieved an early apprenticeship sign-off thanks to his impressive growth in his skills and knowledge, mastering complex tasks including major engine repairs.
His supervisors say Adam is proactive for customers, trying to reduce their downtime during repairs, never compromising high-quality results.
“He demonstrates flexibility and resilience to the changing environment,” they tell us.
“Adam has shown initiative in each task and displays a keen attitude for his own growth and development to seek out new learning opportunities.”
Adam aims to achieve a promotion at Cummins Mildura, advancing his career as a lead technician or supervisor where he can share his skills and be the point of help for anyone in the workplace.
He says he will embrace and take on leadership opportunities, making a difference, mentoring and inspiring others to perform.
And he knows what makes a business tick, saying he wants to help maintain professionalism within the workplace and bring new customers to the business.
Samantha Santi
Cummins South Pacific (Newcastle NSW)
Samantha Santi has consistently exceeded expectations, achieving milestones well ahead of her current year level of learning within her apprenticeship, including performing qualified technician-level tasks during and beyond the third year of her apprenticeship.
Cummins Newcastle says Samantha has been a role model for other apprentices. She also regularly participates in community events promoting the heavy mechanical trade to others, particularly encouraging females to consider the same pathway.
She participated in the 2024 NASCA CareerFit Conference in the Cummins Powers Women Program. NASCA is a 100 per cent Indigenous-governed and led non-profit organisation, providing intensive, wrap-around support to young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, so they can thrive at school and beyond.
Samantha says her focus is currently on expanding her experience across a broader range of mechanical equipment and venturing further into fine-tuning her troubleshooting and diagnostics skills.
As a five-year vision Samantha pictures herself in a field service role: “Gaining distinctive skills and partaking in a plethora of unique jobs and challenges, whether it be on road train, agricultural equipment, generators or marine.
“One of my many loves is being able to help others, teach others and work within a team; I visualise myself taking on a supervisory or mentoring position where I can lead, pass on knowledge and tutor future apprentices and/or technicians to create an efficient and diverse team with excelling morale.
“In the long term, I want to study and enter an engineering department to gain knowledge and insight of the inner-workings and the design process of the machinery I work on .”