The 2012 Hitachi ‘top technician’ for New Zealand has been announced, and he’s currently in Singapore battling through the second round of the Oceania competition.
Regional rounds of Hitachi top technician competition started in February and involved more than 11 technicians competing in two rounds, answering a series of technical questions, in open book exams, taking place at CablePrice branches around the country.
This year has seen Brendon Billet from Rotorua, Chris Futter from Palmerston North and Scott Donnelly from Christchurch get through to the national finals after achieving the three highest scores in the regional finals.
At the Nationals each of the three technicians had to answer a series of 100 technical questions within an hour, then diagnose and repair a set number of faults on a Hitachi excavator within an hour and fifteen minute time frame.
Extra points were gained for safe working practice such as wearing a hi-vis, hard hat, coning off the machine with available safety cones and maintaining three points of contact whenever getting on or off the excavator.
“New Zealand always has a very strong showing, having won 50% of the times we have attended the Oceania finals in Singapore, and I take great delight in reminding our Australian counterparts of this fact, as they’ve won the Oceania title only once,” says Ross Wallace, CablePrice (NZ) Ltd, national training manager.
This year’s national finals were held on Friday 23 March, at CablePrice, Auckland. In addition to completing the theory and particle sections of the competition the finalists also had to present, in detail, their findings of the problem with the excavator, to a panel of five, then answer a series of questions put forward by the panel.
Winner Scott Donnelly has goes on to represent New Zealand in the Oceania round in Singapore and possibly go on to a place in the world finals, held in Japan later this year.
Picture caption: First place to Scott Donnelly, Christchurch, second place to Brendon Billet, from Rotorua, and third, Chris Futter, Palmerston North.
