A large part of ABB Australia's commitment to Reconciliation and our Reconciliation Action Plan, is how to make a difference to the life and work experience of young Aboriginal people.
In 2015, ABB started discussions with Wesley College in Melbourne about how ABB could make a meaningful contribution to the Yiramalay Wesley Studio School program. The school, which was opened in 2010, supports the young people of the Fitzroy Valley community in the Kimberley, Western Australia.
Students in Years 10, 11 and 12 spend two terms of the school year at Yiramalay during the dry season and two terms in Melbourne at Wesley College.
In 2015, ABB developed a one-week intensive work experience program for a group of Yiramalay students as part of their Melbourne residential stint. In 2016, this has been expanded to two one-week sessions. ABB's Notting Hill facility provides practical hands-on tasks on instrumentation, control, electro-mechanical service, power engineering, customer engagement, order processing, logistics, marketing and human resources.
Then, through the construction and racing of small solar cars, the students cover the basic theory of photovoltaic (PV) cells, DC electricity, DC motors and gearboxes.
"The objective of the program is to expose students to the variety of careers available in engineering," said Simon deBell, Business Development Manager for ABB Australia and the initiator of this program.
"One change we included this year was a visit to ABB's factory in Lilydale where the students were introduced to the world of power regulation and metal enclosed capacitor banks, which are essential in the distribution of electricity. The students were very surprised to hear that an Australian company is critical to power networks in export markets such as Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and Turkey."
The work placement at ABB is a unique opportunity for students to understand what is involved in engineering, the importance of customers, how products get from the factory to market, and the transformative impact of power and automation technologies to the world in which they live.
"I believe this program is equally important for most of the non-indigenous ABB employees to understand what life in remote Western Australia may be like, and the challenges and limited opportunities that some of them will face," said Vivian Nee, Operations Manager for ABB's Motors and Generators business.
"After spending time at ABB, the students returned to the normal grind of the school day with enhanced confidence and were excited to share their experiences and learnings with their peers," said Ned Mc Cord, Executive Director Yiramalay/Wesley Studio School.
"Yiramalay staff and students appreciate the opportunity provided to students on the ABB program. The students feel they are in a safe learning environment and are listened to. They enjoy sharing their culture and stories with ABB personnel. As the relationship grows, so will students' confidence to tackle new challenges and experiences," Ned added.
