RMIT Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Jim Barbar, SAGE Didactic CEO Peter Dawson and RMIT Head of School, School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (SAMME) Professor Aleks Subic, opened the new special purpose training facility at the Bundoora East campus on Monday 23rd March

RMIT OPENING SPEECH P. Dawson, Monday March 23.

I am absolutely delighted to be a part of this auspicious occasion.

This facility is born for the shared commitment to “Advancing the technical skills of today’s and tomorrow’s workforce” .

This ambitious commitment brings together RMIT University, one of Australia’s oldest and largest educational institutions & SAGE, who whilst young in years at only 15, is already Australia’s largest privately owned integrator of automation technology.

SAGE employees are highly skilled and range in qualifications from Trades assistants & apprentices through almost all types of Engineers to the several PhDs. Our clients are from an extremely diverse range of industries who also require a similar skills set.

It may surprise some of you to hear that the technology that is traditionally associated with manufacturing is widely used in almost all the things we take for granted in our normal day-to-day business. Building management, roadways, tunnels, bridges, wastewater, drinking water, electricity telecommunications, defence, transport, mining, food and beverage, green initiatives etc. In fact, you name it & I suspect these technologies have a role to play.

Unless society reverts to pre industrial age, technology will form the core of an increasingly broad base of employment.

SAGE is interested in ensuring that sufficient human capital is attracted to the technical disciplines so as to ensure both our and the industry at large have the capacity to grow. We are committed to “ Advancing the technical skills of today’s and tomorrow’s workforce” . It is vital that informed decisions are made regarding career at the appropriate time. Our engagement with high school students, parents, and teachers aids this knowledge transfer thus filling a vital gap.

By partnering with RMIT this further assists students and schools form bonds with a premier tertiary provider who can expertly support their learning needs.

We hope that more students will see the challenges and rewards that a technical career offers and in so doing make subject choices that ultimately lead them to employment with us or in any of the industries that we operate within.

At the tertiary level we see collaboration in content and training platform development plus work based projects and placements occurring.

Why has SAGE “partnered” with RMIT University? Many factors feed into this decision. Primarily we share many of the same core values, especially focusing on practical skills and competences that are relevant to today’s workplace. We are serious about our mission, so is RMIT.