“Skills Work!® for Women” – Vanessa Hawkins, Tool & Tooling Maker/Machinist

Plenty of girls look up to their big brothers, but Vanessa Hawkins can credit hers with introducing her to a career that she is now passionate about.  “I knew I didn’t want to sit behind a desk all day and I knew I wanted to make good money.”  Having tried one high school machining class, Vanessa accompanied her brother to Centennial College to check out the campus.  Once she heard the instructors talking about machining and tool and die making, she was hooked.

Currently working for Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), Vanessa recently completed her four-year apprenticeship after completing the two-year Tool & Die program at Centennial, as well as a semester of CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machining.  On a daily basis, Vanessa makes a variety of parts from a variety of materials – including plastics (Teflon, acrylic, peek, delrin) and metals (zirc, aluminum, stainless steel, brass, copper, uranium).  She sets up and operates a vast array of machinery and equipment such as CNC/Wire/design programs, lathes, mills, drill presses and band saws.

Vanessa considers finishing her apprenticeship and passing all the exams to be her biggest accomplishment, and it’s no surprise.  Aside from the time and effort dedicated to the training, tooling is a skilled trade that demands patience and perfection.  “Some parts take hundreds of hours and have to be perfect to within 0.0003 inches.”  Anything less can result in thousands of dollars lost to the company.

Despite the challenges, Vanessa absolutely loves her work.  It gives her freedom and security, and allows her to use her mind to solve problems, and her hands to design and build.  She can even branch into other related trades fairly easily.  “You’ll always be able to find a job or even start your own business.  Skilled trades pay well and you get to have something to show for it at the end of the day.  You can work anywhere.  What’s not to love?”

Vanessa mentored students from the Renfrew County area at the first-ever Pembroke Networking Dinner on November 16th.