Lucas Giacoboni is the MTA Institute Apprentice of the Month for July 2022.
The 20-year-old, third-year light vehicle apprentice has been working at Auto Giant in Brendale, Brisbane, for just over two years and has impressed both his trainer and employer with the quality of his work, his dedication to the job, and his determination to improve.
“Lucas has an ability to do things others can’t do,” said Tony Fasano, director of Auto Giant. “He is able to accept feedback and use that feedback to drive forward to success. He is always looking to better himself. He loves to add value to himself and his team and Auto Giant.”
A career working with cars was something that Lucas had in mind from when he was at school. Many members of his family are car enthusiasts, and he spent much time during his childhood helping his father and uncles with their cars.
“I would help dad and then, when I got my first car I would work on that when I got home from school,” he said. “They have always been a big passion of mine and working on them as a career was something that I wanted to pursue.”
That desire for a career in automotive was strengthened after working at a Subaru dealership while still at school, and the interest was still strong after his return from an extended trip overseas that he took after he had finished his school education.
“I worked at Subaru one day a week for a year and it was good fun and I learned a lot,” he said. “I did get offered a job at the end of it, but I had decided to go to Italy to visit family. When I came back, I was looking for a job and I discovered Tony’s profile. I read about his background in motorsport and that really stood out to me.
“He wasn’t looking for an apprentice at the time, but a couple of months later he got back to me and gave me a chance. I have been here ever since.”
Auto Giant offers passionate, aspiring mechanics like Lucas plenty of learning opportunities. The business offers a huge range of services on all makes and models of cars and trucks, including mechanical maintenance and repairs, diagnostic testing, suspension airbag sales and installation, auto electrical servicing and repairs, and diesel repairs and engine reconditioning, to name just a few.
Working in that environment is challenging, said Lucas, and something he really enjoys.
“You name it, we do it here,” he said. “We might start the day with a valve clearance on a Landcruiser, then you’re doing an oil filter housing on a VW, and then after that, who knows, it just keeps going and you never know what you’re going to get!”
Like many other apprentices, Lucas knows the technology revolution in vehicles will impact the wider automotive industry and having the skills to work on hybrid and electric vehicles will be a necessity. With that in mind, more training is a certainty down the track.
“After I finish this light vehicle training, I do want to do a hybrid course and auto electrical training and other courses that deal with that side of things,” he said. “That is the direction the industry is going – it’s all ECUs and BCMs – and I want to have an understanding of that. You have to move with it or fall behind.”
He will likely get that training and absorb that knowledge at an innovative enterprise like Auto Giant.
“I do want to stay here well past the completion of my apprenticeship,” said Lucas. “There is so much knowledge in this workshop and so much I can learn here that I want to stay and get as much knowledge as I can. Far from now, I may open my own workshop, but for now it’s about keeping doing what I am doing and getting better every day.”
Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (August 2022)
22 August 2022
