The VASA Board of Directors had studied both finalists' nomination documents, and agreed that the Mobile Air Conditioning Technician of the Year would be Steven Tiniakos, who owns and operates Celsius Air Conditioning & Refrigeration in Rockdale, Sydney.

Steven was an outstanding ambassador for the mobile air conditioning, said the judges. He has gone to great lengths to train and educate himself in all aspects of the trade as a licensed technician in both mobile and stationery air conditioning and refrigeration and in addition, he holds a post-trade qualfiication and a teaching qualification - Certificate IV in Training & Assessment.

The training required extensive overtime and voluntary weekend work to get up the necessary hours. Steve has also spread his wings, working on AC systems on buses and coaches, trucvks and cars in both Australia and Europe.

In his spare time, the 27-year-old is constantly educating himself through continuing professional development courses. He had already previously won AIRAH's Future Leader Excellence Award.

And his worthy runner-up and finalist was Steven Manassa, technician employed at Kar Air, Fern Tree Gully, Victoria.

Steve Manassa impressed the judges with his innovative approach to refrigeration management within his workshop environment, offering free degassing services to other trades who were rather cavalier about the environmental consequences of just letting refrigerant escape into the atmosphere.

Steve had been awarded Best apprentice of the Year in all of his four years of his Certificate III, Automotive Light Vehicle course.

President Mark Padwick summed up "VASA believes that these two finalists can play a major and continuing role in encouraging young people to consider an automotive career, and in promoting the value of a sound trade education, coupled with self-motivated extra training and knowledge enhancement."