Steven McAfee, Vehicle Systems & Materials Lecturer, led the VW training programme at Mataaho
Late last month Volkswagen technicians from around the country spent a week at Mataaho on an upskilling training programme, making the most of our ‘state of the art’ technology.
The programme was led by Vehicle Systems & Materials Lecturer Steven McAfee, in partnership with Giltrap Volkswagen, the New Zealand franchisee, and their training technicians.
This opportunity was inspired by a visit VW representatives had previously made to Mataaho. They were impressed with our emulation platforms and immediately saw significant value in using our equipment for training their own people.
Martyn Rutledge, one of the VW trainers, working with a technician
For the programme VW brought in some of their own equipment including the new SUV, Touareg, to work on.
For our teaching team this collaboration has provided them with access to the latest training materials and in the future, a reciprocal arrangement with VW, where our teaching team will attend their higher-level training programmes.
Lecturer Lee Baglow says that this is an unbelievable achievement for Unitec and has the potential to be a catalyst for developing relationships with other franchisees, providing them also with a resource for upskilling their practising technicians.
Our VW partnership will continue with plans already underway for a series of short courses.