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Our undergraduate program supported 21 students in 2007–08 with
industry tours and a work experience program that builds individual skills
and knowledge, and encourages them to consider a career in the industry.
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE PROCESSING SECTOR
Build world-class skills and innovation capability
Our professional development program aims to assist building the skills and knowledge of individuals and enterprises throughout the supply chain to sustain productivity and competitive advantage.
In 2007–08, we extended the program beyond just engineers in the processing sector. In addition to the Meat Industry Training Advisory Council (MINTRAC) scholarships, the suite of professional development initiatives now includes university scholarships, an undergraduate program, final year scholarships, a graduate program and the Intercollegiate Meat Judging Competition.
Cultivating an industry-wide culture of innovation and continuous improvement is important in increasing industry capability. Along with the Australian Meat Processor Corporation Technical Committee and the Australian Meat Industry Council’s OH&S Committee, we developed the world’s first red meat boning room manual assist device lab prototype for Australian processor testing. These devices address a number of threatening issues in the meat processing industry, including high injury and turnover rates. The manual assist devices have also demonstrated increases in yield and productivity in pilot plants of 3.3% and 3.8%. Next year we will work with industry to evaluate the technology for all potential industry uses and then develop two examples (smallstock and beef) for installation in Australian processing companies.
| PROGRAM STATISTICS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Program (inception year) | Cumulative program total since inception | 2007–08 |
| University scholarships (2004) | 5 | 0 |
| Undergraduate program (2002) | 117 | 21 |
| Final year scholarships (2003) | 5 | 3 |
| Graduate program (2005) | 41 | 16 |
| Intercollegiate Meat Judging Competition (1992) | 85 | 5 |
