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Blue Dog graduate Ashley Brown has truly built the framework of a great career as a Designer/Builder.  He recently took out the Harry Hauenschild Apprentice of the Year award, in the Metropolitan Region.   Now a state finalist for this award category, we wanted to share a little bit about Ashley and his achievements to date within the construction industry.

Growing up, Ashley enjoyed working on small projects around the family farm and did manual arts in high school.  He completed his Bachelor of Design (Architecture) in 2012, and was instantly hooked on the idea of being more ‘hands-on’ after volunteering on a rural building project called Murphy’s Creek BNT.  As a member of this project, he helped design, source the materials for, and then build an agricultural shed in Toowoomba, within a region destroyed by the 2011 flash floods.

Ashley completed his carpentry apprenticeship in 2015, working for an award-winning architect/builder. He enjoyed the flexibility of the Blue Dog system, and went on to complete his Certificate IV in Building and Construction with us this year.  With an obvious streak of determination, Ashley now has his sights set on completing his Master of Architecture, another notch on the Designer/Builder career belt.

“As a hands-on, practical learner, my apprenticeship was the most interesting and appealing part of my learning experience,” he said. “Working in a variety of construction environments, really helped my personal development as an individual and as a member of a team.”

When Ashley is not busy with his studies or his work, sport and family have always been a huge part of his life.  At school, he represented the Sunshine Coast in cricket and touch football, and two years ago he ran the 21km Gold Coast half marathon with his wife Belle, prior to injuring his ACL.

We would like to wish Ashley, and all the other state finalists for the Queensland Training Awards, the best of luck.  Stay posted on Friday 9^th September for our coverage of the awards night on Twitter and Instagram.