It was a tense three days for TAFE SWSi student Matthew Cleave, but he kept his cool and took third prize at the 2016 World Skills Australia National Refrigeration Competition.

Supported by the Australian Government and Heatcraft Australia, the competition, now in its seventh year, aims to encourage young people to achieve greatness in their chosen career areas. It also helps build relationships between young apprentices and industry.

Matthew started his world skills journey by competing against 100 young apprentices at the World Skills Australia Regional Competition. After winning at Regionals he progressed to the National Competition, which was held in Perth last week.

Mathew competed against 10 other hopeful finalists. The competitors had three days to demonstrate that they have the best skills and knowledge in the country. To do this they completed four practical challenges over 18 hours. Activities included installing a refrigeration system, commissioning an air conditioning system, refrigeration fault finding and electrical fault finding.

The atmosphere throughout the three days was intense. There were plenty of flames flying on day one, as the competitors completed the majority of their welding components. By day two the things calmed down as competitors found their rhythm. Tensions rose again on day three, as the competitors scrambled to finish their projects. When the competition ended at 11:30am the atmosphere in the room changed again with competitors placing down their tools and congratulating each other for their good work.

After three days of tough competition, it was announced that Matthew Cleave was a Bronze medallist at the official presentation ceremony held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre later that day.