John Venables-Kyrke from Subaru Osborne Park, Western Australia, has won Subaru’s 2016 Australian Technician of the Year title in a tough competition to find the company’s best of the best.
Top technicians from Subaru dealerships across the country were selected to compete head-on in the 2016 Australian Technical Competition (ATC).
The ATC was held at the Subaru Academy in Sydney. Eight technicians and two apprentices were put to the test and hone their skills in confronting scenarios.
For the first time, Subaru included third and fourth year Apprentices so they could experience and prepare themselves in a pressure environment at early stages in their career.
The first round involved an online examination to determine progress to the following round, which involved practical diagnostic tests performed on-car at their dealership.
Subaru National Training and Network Engagement Manager, Gary Pearce, who was one of the judges said: “Having assessed John at his dealership during the second round of the competition, it was an absolute pleasure to witness his methodical approach to the diagnostic test, which ultimately helped him locate the fault I had put into the car.
“Technicians face many challenges and work under pressure in their normal day to day roles, and it is great to watch our best technicians perform in a completely different pressure environment and show off their skills. I believe this experience will help them back in the workplace.”
John gains automatic entry into the next round of competition and will be now be competing in the Subaru World Technical Competition (SWTC) qualifier (ATC 2017) in March this year against other highly-ranked technicians.
The ATC is held to prepare the winner to compete in the global competition.
SWTC is held every two years in Japan and is supported by 13 regions around the world, placing the best technicians from each region against each other in a high pressure environment.
John said, “It was a great experience, and by the end of it, I even left with a few things to learn. I am beyond ecstatic to have won and am really excited to do it again at the SWTC in Japan to represent Australia.”
Matt Moller from Subaru Penrith, NSW, was second-place runner up and Iain Price from Subaru Camberwell, VIC came in third.
Nathan O’Byrne from Bunbury Subaru, Western Australia also achieved a high score of 82% in the Fuji Heavy Industries Premium Award Technician Level. Tony Bellardino from Jarvis Subaru, South Australia also passed his Master Technician examination and is now fully qualified at the dealership.
Subaru Australia commends all participants in the competition and their continued efforts to demonstrate outstanding commitment to the company and their work.
For more information on Subaru locally, visit:
Subaru Australia: http://www.subaru.com.au/
