News & Events
Automotive Centre of Excellence Celebrates First Year of Bumper Achievements
5 November 2007
ACE's First Birthday CakeAustralia's most advanced training facility, the Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE) at Docklands, celebrated its first year of milestone achievements with over 100 industry guests on Thursday 1 November 2007.
Special guest speakers included the Hon. Jacinta Allan MP, Minister for Skills and Workforce Participation, and Regional and Rural Development, Executive Director of VACC, David Purchase OAM, and Cary Lyon of Lyons Architects.
Nineteen-year-old vehicle painting apprentice, Aimee Campbell, also shared her experiences as a student at the Automotive Centre of Excellence.
Since opening in late 2006, the first stage of the Automotive Centre of Excellence
- Welcomed automotive industry organisations – VACC, PPG, Wurth and Repco – as partners in the ACE development after the Victorian government's
- Hosted a national launch of PPG's environmentally-friendly water borne paint technology.
- Became the only training facility in Australia to feature voice-enhanced web-cams.
- Became the only training facility to feature in the 2007 Collision Repair Expo, attracting almost 1000 industry guests.
- Hosted a cocktail event as a part of the 2007 APEC Automotive Dialogue.
- Launched the Women in Automotive Network, designed to promote networking and encourage participation by women in all areas of the automotive industry.
- Generated national recognition from national and international media and industry organisations, even featuring in Indian and British publications.
- Collected eight state and national environmental awards for sustainable design.
The VACC's Great Ocean Road 75 Years Celebration Tour will also start at the Automotive Centre of Excellence on Sunday 25 November 2007. The tour, over four days, will start in Melbourne and finish in Portland. The original cavalcade of vehicles drove from Geelong town hall to the Grand Pacific Hotel on November 26, 1932. Funds raised from the tour will go to a charity called Retina Australia. More information at www.greatoceanroad.org
Automotive Centre of Excellence vehicle painting teacher, Livio Tomas, was also announced as the Institute for Trade Skills Excellence's Automotive Trade Teacher of the Year in October 2007.
For information on the Automotive Centre of Excellence, visit www.aceauto.com.au or call 13 4 ACE.
High resolution photos and video links to speeches available on request.
Linda Longaretti - Opening (3145Kb)
Ray Griffiths (CEO Kangan Batman TAFE) - Speech (7076Kb)
David Purchase (Executive Director VACC) - Sponsor/Industry perspective (6010Kb)
Aimee Campbell (Vehicle Painting Apprentice at ACE) - Apprentice perspective (10748Kb)
Livio Tomas (Assistant Manager Vehicle Paint at ACE) - Vehicle Painting Demonstration (2173Kb)
Carey Lyons (Director of Lyons Architects) - Architects perspective (5791Kb)
