6/5/01
Employment and Training Minister John Kobelke has hailed a unique underwater welding facility as a trendsetter that will boost Western Australia's international status in the field of scientific and technical development.
XLT College of Welding's Underwater Welding Training Facility at Spearwood offers the world's first nationally accredited underwater welding training curriculum.
Opening the new facility today, Mr Kobelke said XLT's research and development had resulted in highly efficient and economical underwater welding techniques, superior to traditional methods.
They had also overcome dangers common to underwater welders and enhanced the strength and quality of underwater welds to dry weld standard.
Mr Kobelke said the company, which was established only four years ago, had already made a significant contribution to WA's reputation as an international provider of dynamic, innovative, industry-specific skills and training.
The company recently accomplished a successful trouble-shooting mission in the Philippines, repairing a serious pipe-line leak in the Bakun Hydro Project, when previous repair attempts by other international experts had failed.
The Minister said XLT's advances, endorsed by leading international certifying bodies, including the American Bureau of Shipping and Lloyd's Register of Shipping, had exciting, and far-reaching implications for vital WA industries, such as ship-building and off-shore oil and gas exploration.
"The company is reversing the trend in which operations within these industries have traditionally relied extensively on the expertise of overseas companies," he said.
"Now, innovative businesses like XLT are turning things around, delivering WA skills and capabilities overseas, providing a catalyst for growth in advanced technologies geared for international new millennium markets."
The company's research and development program was made possible by a grant from the Department of Training and Employment's Science and Technology Innovation Fund.
The fund was created two years ago to encourage training organisations in both the public and private sectors to collaborate with industry to develop innovative projects in the fields of science and technology.
XLT was among 10 grant recipients in regional and metropolitan WA allocated funding last year totalling $1 million.
Mr Kolbelke said the Government was committed to support high-calibre, innovative science and technology-based projects with the aim of improving the State's status and job opportunities in the science and technology sectors.
"It begins with educating and training a new generation of technologically and sci-smart young people," he said.
Media contact: Steve Manchee on 9222 9211
