Education/training

Apprentice ready to carry the torch

For Ed Conboy, the journey to becoming an industrial mechanic millwright was filled with numerous pit stops and detours.

LINDA WHITE
[ 2007-06-27 ]

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Ed Conboy will soon write a certification exam that will allow him to work as an industrial mechanic millwright anywhere in Canada.

As he prepares to write his certification exam, he applauds apprenticeship training and looks forward to one day filling the shoes of skilled tradespeople who taught him well.

"It's no secret any longer that there is a shortage of tradespeople as people retire," he says. "The sad thing is the amount of information that will be lost when these people retire."

NOT FIRST CHOICE


But apprenticeship wasn't a first choice for Conboy. After graduating from Henry Street High School in Whitby, he worked as a general contractor in home renovation for about five years. He took his skills to the Bahamas, where he worked on a new casino for a year, before returning to Canada and working once again in home renovations.

Conboy was managing a pub when he decided to return to school. "I wanted to pursue a trade and get my licence," says the Whitby resident. He opted for a one-year, pre-apprenticeship program at Durham College, earning a mechanical techniques industrial certificate.


The program is designed for those intending to pursue a career as an industrial mechanic millwright. Courses focus on the installation, service, repair and overhaul of industrial mechanical equipment. Most major manufacturing and process companies employ industrial mechanic millwrights.

While attending college, Conboy worked part time with a small millwright business, installing machinery. After completing the program at Durham College, he worked as a labourer at a steel mill. "There was no possibility of an apprenticeship there, but at least I was working in the industry," he says.

He continued to send out resumes and came across a newspaper ad for an apprentice millwright at the Toronto Sun. Since landing the apprenticeship three years ago, he has worked at the newspaper's King Street location and now at its state-of-the-art printing facility at Hwy. 401 and Islington Avenue.

MONTREAL


"We maintain and repair printing and distribution equipment," Conboy says. He travelled to Montreal last summer to help install Quebecor's new printing facility.

The Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities recommends apprenticeship training for those wanting want to work in this trade. As part of his apprenticeship, Conboy successfully completed basic, intermediate and advanced training. He will soon write a certification exam that will allow him to work as an industrial mechanic millwright anywhere in Canada.

"It's been a fantastic experience," he says. "As an apprentice, you work alongside a licensed journeyman very heavily at the beginning of your apprenticeship, and then it tapers off as you're given more responsibilities and become more knowledgeable."

QUICK FACTS


An industrial mechanic millwright installs, repairs and maintains complex machinery in a range of industries, including such manufacturing industries as: automotive assembly and parts, textiles, food processing, mining and forest products.

Communications, mechanical aptitude, manual dexterity, good colour vision, blueprint reading and analytical skills are keys to success. Knowledge of mechanics, technical drawing and shop is an asset.

-- Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities



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