Cooper Thornely discovered his love of welding at age 12.
"I used to go play in the school metalwork room during lunchtimes," Mr Thornely said.
"I'd make toolboxes or barbecue hot plates, or fix anything I could get my hands on."
Mr Thornely, a 21-year-old graduate from the Canberra Institute of Technology and a recently qualified boilermaker, will represent Australia on the world stage next week at the WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai.
"It's a big honour to represent Australia," he said.
The competition, known as the Olympics of vocational skills, is held every two years with more than 80 countries competing.
Almost 40 young Australian apprentices, under 24 years of age, will go to Shanghai as part of the "Skillaroos" this year.
The Skillaroos will compete in more than 30 events, including cyber security, beauty therapy, industrial mechanics, and bricklaying.
Another CIT graduate, William Nickl, will be competing in the patisserie and confectionery event.
Mitch Pirie, acting chief executive officer of CIT, said the success of both competitors spoke to the support they received during their education.
"They have both worked incredibly hard, applied themselves during their studies and apprenticeships, and have also put in a lot of work out of hours to prepare for their competitions," he said.
"The entire CIT community will be cheering them on loudly from home."
Mr Thornely has been training for the WorldSkills Competition for almost a year while also working at Alfec Industrial Engineering in Yass.
Before training began, Mr Thornely's journey to the "skills Olympics" started in 2024 with a gold medal at a regional WorldSkills competition in Canberra.
In 2025, he received a Certificate of Excellence at the WorldSkills Australia National Championship, as well as Weld Australia's Young Trades Person of the Year.
Like his peers on the Australian team, he is expected to train for about 40 hours a week.
"It's been pretty full on," he said. "I work 45, maybe 50 hours a week as a boilermaker, then put in the training after work and on weekends."
Mr Thornely estimated that "just about all" Skillaroos balanced full-time apprenticing or work with training for the WorldSkills Competition.
During the welding competition, Mr Thornely will have to complete a variety of welds, working with different methods and metals, within 18 hours.
He expects the biggest competition to come from the Chinese and Japanese delegations.
"In China they've got the facilities, the equipment, and the funds to pay [their national representatives] to train full-time for years."
Mr Thornely has confidence he can bring home a medal, however.
"I have a good eye for detail and take a lot of pride in the work that I do," he said.
"If it's worth doing, it's always worth doing right."
Mr Thornely will fly to Shanghai on Friday and begin the four-day welding event next Wednesday, September 23.
