TRAINING THE KEY TO SUCCESS

AS A MECHANIC, keeping up to date and across all the technological advances and developments that are appearing in modern vehicles can be something of a challenge.

The biggest headline-makers are electrification in the form of battery-electric (BEV) and hybrid-electric vehicles (HEV), and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) technology which requires the delicate calibration of cameras, radars, and lidar sensors to make it tick. These two technologies are relatively new to the wider automotive industry and getting the right training to prepare for the jobs that may be only trickling in now but will be arriving in waves within a few years, is an important consideration for any workshop.

For MTA Queensland and the MTA Institute, being able to offer top-quality training on new and emerging technologies is part of their mission to help automotive businesses and individual technicians be successful.

Ethan attending the BEV/HEV training course at MTA Institute

In fact, the organisations offer a suite of training courses that guide an individual from being the rawest of green recruits to becoming a qualified technician with serious skills. From apprenticeships to short online micro-credentials courses, from programs that dive deep into technologies such as ADAS to courses that offer quick upskilling opportunities, if a mechanical course is something you need or are interested in, chances are MTA Queensland and the MTA Institute will be able to deliver it.

For the aspiring mechanic, a one-stop training shop like this can be extremely useful, and so it has been for Ethan Simmons, a qualified light vehicle mechanic at the family-owned Allautos Advanced Tuning shop in the northern Brisbane suburb of Geebung.

Since first crossing paths with the MTA Institute in 2018 when he took part in the five-week Cert II in Automotive Vocational Preparation (AUR20720) course, he has done every bit of training with the Institute, with the now 24-year-old racking up an impressive list of credentials. He has completed not only the Cert II and his apprenticeship, but the Cert II in Auto Air Conditioning Technology (AUR20220) course, the Battery Electric and Hybrid Electric Vehicle Inspection and Servicing Skill Set (AURSS00064 & AURSS00037) course and is about to sign up for the set of Advanced Driver Assistance System courses run by MTA Queensland in partnership with ADAS Solutions Australia.

That’s a good effort for a young bloke for whom, just six years ago, being a mechanic was not even a blip on the career radar and who stumbled across his hidden interest in all things mechanical thanks to the purchase of a clunker of a first car.

“I liked cars, as any young kid would, but working on them as a career just wasn't really what I thought I wanted to do,” said Ethan. “But then I began working on my car, a Mk4 Golf. Being a European car, it was not easy to fix or find parts for and it was in terrible condition for its age. I had to learn how to do things pretty quickly. I watched YouTube videos and read up on things and began to fix it and realised I was really enjoying doing it.”

From there, a determination to find out more would lead to a search for an apprenticeship and that first interaction with the MTA Institute through the auto vocational preparation course.

“I began looking for jobs and a lot were saying they wanted a first-year apprentice with some certificates behind them,” said Ethan. “I googled the leading training organisation, and MTA Queensland popped up. I did some research, spoke to my mum about it, saw the course was coming up and went from there.

“At the conclusion of the course, the trainer, Jeff Mann, reached out and got me a job at Caltex Carina.”

Starting his apprenticeship with the MTA Institute immediately, Ethan did an 18-month stint at the Caltex workshop followed by a couple of years at an Ultratune outlet before his parents, Jeremy and Lily, bought the Allautos business where Ethan would go on to complete his apprenticeship.

Doing his apprenticeship with the MTA Institute was an easy decision to make, Ethan said, even with the move between three workshops meaning he completed the training under the guidance of two MTA Institute trainers.

“Everyone was very friendly and dealing with them was just great,” he said. “I did have two different trainers – Roger West and James Dixon – but that was because I moved to the north side of Brisbane. It didn’t matter as they were both amazing trainers.”

Toward the end of his apprenticeship, Ethan also signed on for the three-day MTA Institute auto air conditioning technology course and, once that was done, looked to swiftly get on board the courses that tackled one of the auto industry’s major transformational technologies - vehicle electrification.

Jeremy, Ethan, and Lily Simmons own and run Allautos Advanced Tuning in Geebung, Brisbane

Once again, looking to the MTA Institute for training was an easy decision, especially as it was the Institute that had alerted him to the importance of the technology in the first place.

“I remember when I was doing the five-week auto vocational preparation course that MTA Queensland had a red MX-5 on a chassis straightener. I was talking to Jeff Mann about it and he said they were thinking about doing an EV swap on the car. That was back in 2018 and that got me very interested,” he said.

“I knew then that EVs were going to come in, and come in strong, and in order to get ahead of the game you’re going to have to be qualified,” he added. “People will take their vehicle to someone who has the qualifications and the specific tools for the job. Someone with the basic knowledge might be able to diagnose a problem, but they might replace a component rather save a customer money by working out what’s wrong with it and repairing it.”

Working with hybrid vehicles has already given Ethan and the Allautos team some experience in this area.

“We had a hybrid Camry come through and the 12-volt auxiliary battery was at fault,” said Ethan. “Because of the age of the vehicle and the corrosion I saw on the terminal of that battery, I removed the main battery too. On the scan tool, I could see that some of the cells were actually quite low and at fault. Instead of replacing them, I was able to take out all the cells, line them up in parallel and balance them out.”

To charge and balance cells from a hybrid vehicle's battery pack, Ethan built a simple rig and charger/discharger system

To do so, Ethan built a simple jig upon which the cells could be placed, rigged together, and reset and balanced using a Charger/Discharger tool. That's clever stuff and a mark not only of the innovative thinking that sets a shop apart form others, but also of the results of being trained to really understand a technology.

While the Allautos workshop has seen just a handful of hybrids – mostly older Camrys and Prius models – it does also work with the Hertz hire car fleet which is heavy with hybrid vehicles. While those are new and don’t require any work yet, they are another indication of where the industry is heading. It’s an exciting future for someone who likes a challenge.

“I am pumped!” said Ethan. “I’m keen to see all the issues that will come along with EVs because I know there will be a lot and I always like to learn.”

Next on the training schedule for Ethan is Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) – another relatively new but important technology in which the MTA Institute, in partnership with ADAS Solutions Australia, offers comprehensive training with three courses available – ADAS Awareness, ADAS Vehicle Glass, and ADAS Technician.

“I’m trying to get in on that as quickly as I can,” said Ethan. “I already have a pretty good understanding of ADAS, and we have a new Snap-On Zeus tool that is capable of doing such things. Once again, it’s something that is needed because a lot of vehicles are coming through with calibration issues.”

Allautos Advanced Tuning specialises in diagnostic work and recently purchased the Zeus diagnostic system from Snap-on

“We want to expand to include another shop, either on the south side or a littlebit closer to town, and we have also talked about getting a mobile service going. I’d also like to get into work such as rebuilding diesel injectors. I want to be able to repair them in-house – that would be easier and more cost-effective. And, of course I definitely want to go more in-depth on EVs.”

For Ethan and the team at Allautos Advanced Tuning, which is a Repco Authorised Service Centre, keeping up to date with the latest developments is vital. While it delivers a full range of mechanical services, the workshop has a reputation for its diagnostic work, and it’s a reputation they are keen to build on.

“We do everything and there is no vehicle we won’t work on, but we pride ourselves on our diagnostic work,” said Ethan. “We have an Autologic scan tool for European vehicles, two variants of the Snap-On scan tool, a Launch, a G-Scan, and multiple computers set up for reprogramming software and scan data.

All of this signals that there is going to be more research, and more MTA Institute training, in Ethan’s future.

“I get email updates once a week about the courses available. If there’s one that sparks my interest, I’ll look at doing it, especially if it helps progress the development of the business and my own learning. “And I recommend to anyone who wants to do training or an apprenticeship, to do so with the MTA Institute. The facility is amazing, the courses are top tier and everyone there is so knowledgeable.”