Axalta Celebrates the Success of its Try’aSkill Booth

As Gold Partner and long term supporter of WorldSkills Australia, Axalta Coating Systems has always been fully focused on securing the future of the refinish industry through the training and education of young professionals.  The Try’aSkill booth at 2018 WorldSkills National Championships gave Axalta the opportunity to present vehicle painting as a potential career to the countless number of school children, teachers and parents that visited the ICC during Skills Show Australia 2018 and the attendance was overwhelming.

When Aidan Hasler, Lional Stapleton, Maxine Colligan, Kaine Corpuz, Luke Alexander, Amber Gabelich and Kyle Little were battling it out for the title of best vehicle painter in Australia at Ultimo TAFE, Axalta’s Try’a Skill booth had its own exciting and intensive battle. The Try’a Skill booth displayed a Virtual Reality Spray Painting programme, kindly donated by TAFE NSW that simulated what a car painter would experience in a bodyshop.  The spray painting programme gave attendees the opportunity to try their hand at spray painting and regardless of age, everyone had a fighting chance to be the best spray painter on the day, so the competition was fierce.

“It was an absolute delight to see how much fun everyone was having when they took up the challenge of spray painting,” said Paul Polverino, National Training Manager for Axalta. “No matter what the age, everyone had a chance to beat the best score, with many coming back again and again to see if they could beat their original score.  It was also an opportunity for us to talk directly to the school children, their teachers and parents, answering questions, providing advice and a clearer insight into the incredible career paths available in vehicle refinishing.”

“Axalta’s passion for our industry and desire to secure its future through young professionals is what drives us at Axalta,” said Polverino.  “We are very proud to have been involved in the Try’a Skill event, as well as support the seven young men and women who competed in this year WorldSkills Australia Championship. We especially would like to wish Maxine Colligan, whose goal is to represent Australia in 2019 at the 45^th WorldSkills International Competition in Kazan, Russia, the best of luck!”

Our industry’s future is in great hands – the 2018 WorldSkills National Championship Competitors, with the Judges and Industry Experts

Danny Van Zyl from Axalta demonstrating the Virtual Reality Spray Gun to school kids at the Try’aSkill Booth

About Axalta Coating Systems

Axalta is a leading global company focused solely on coatings and providing customers with innovative, colorful, beautiful and sustainable solutions. From light OEM vehicles, commercial vehicles and refinish applications to electric motors, buildings and pipelines, our coatings are designed to prevent corrosion, increase productivity and enable the materials we coat to last longer. With more than 150 years of experience in the coatings industry, the approximately 13,300 people of Axalta continue to find ways to serve our more than 100,000 customers in 130 countries better every day with the finest coatings, application systems and technology. For more information visit axalta.com.au and follow us on Twitter @Axalta and on LinkedIn.