Mr Skelton received the award as the top performing Diploma of Electrical Engineering student across TAFE NSW, and was also announced as winner of the Riverina Institute Electrotechnology Excellence Award.

Mr Skelton attended the TAFE NSW Riverina Institute Awards for Excellence in Wagga Wagga last week where he was presented with his awards by George Baitch, son of Theo Baitch, and Greg Aplin MP.

Beginning a Certificate IV in Electrical – Instrumentation in 2011, Mr Skelton, then a Hydro Maintainer-Electrical, was assisting in the modernisation of plant controls built in the mid 1960’s.

“New instrumentation was being installed and I wanted to gain a greater understanding of how it worked,” said Mr Skelton. “Many of the subjects in the Certificate IV counted towards the Diploma, which I subsequently enrolled in to build on my learnings and this helped me into the role of Specialist Technician.”

As a Specialist Technician with Snowy Hydro, Mr Skelton supports the tradespeople and engineers in operating, maintaining and repairing plant equipment. He also assists in the investigation, development and implementation of improvements to maintain a high standard of plant reliability.

Living four hours’ drive from Wagga Wagga Campus, Mr Skelton was unable to physically attend classes regularly. However he found a combination of online study and practical classroom sessions was a workable solution, which certainly paid off.

“I was quite surprised to receive the award, but it was great to have all my hard work recognised,” said Mr Skelton. “I am very pleased.”