CQU graduate and former campus employee Deanna Christoff is the newly appointed manager of the simulator program at the Mining Industry Skills Centre Inc.

Originally from Moura, Ms Christoff completed the Bachelor of Business program in 2002 in Rockhampton and worked in the academic support area of CQU’s Student Association before moving on to work at TAFE Queensland in Brisbane.

Ms Christoff attributed much of her career success to her education experience at CQU.

“The critical analysis skills I developed at university have been invaluable in every position I’ve held over the past decade, and completing my degree externally meant I didn’t have to put my professional life on hold while I studied,” she explained.

“I always felt the academic staff understood the challenges associated with successfully completing university study while working full-time, and they supported the application of real work situations in assessment tasks, which made the course content instantly relevant.

“The university also has user-friendly systems in place to assist external students, saving valuable time and effort”.

Ms Christoff has a wealth of knowledge of the higher education system and the Vocational Education and Training sector (VET), and now specialises in education program implementation and change management.

In her new role she is to lead a small group of specialists responsible for the strategic implementation of the state-wide simulator training programs.

The simulator training will provide pre-employment and refresher training for mining industry employees. The specialist team will work to ensure the training programs are accessible to all members of the mining industry.

Ms Christoff said the rapid growth experienced by the mining industry over recent years has meant it is a challenging environment to work in.

“Using simulation-based training means that trainees can obtain experience in operating equipment across different applications in wet weather and in dark/night conditions. We also simulate some of the risks associated with operating machinery such as engine fires and brake failure, which are potentially life-threatening for the equipment operator and cannot be replicated safely in a traditional training situation”.

She said she looked forward to establishing a program that will not only provide realistic training experience to industry employees, but will also directly contribute to reducing the skills shortage in the Queensland mining industry.

Photo: Deanna Christoff is the newly appointed manager of the simulator program at the Mining Industry Skills Centre Inc.