13 August 2026
Cairns star named Apprentice of the Year
For most people, the path to an engineering career goes like this: school…uni…job. But Taylah Smith isn’t most people.
She’s someone who wants – needs, even – to understand how things work from the ground up; to experience the practical before launching into the theoretical.
That’s why she pursued an apprenticeship as the first step towards her ultimate goal of engineering. It’s why she earned an Associate Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering while completing her electrical apprenticeship.
It’s why she’s gone above and beyond the scope of a run-of-the-mill apprenticeship at every step of her journey, serving as an HSE rep, developing a more user-friendly apprentice training logbook, and advocating for a redesign of workwear for our female tradies.
It’s why she’s gone above and beyond the scope of a run-of-the-mill apprenticeship at every step of her journey, serving as an HSE rep, developing a more user-friendly apprentice training logbook, and advocating for a redesign of workwear for our female tradies.
And all of this is why Taylah has just been named the Harry Hauenschild Apprentice of the Year at the Tropical North Qld Training Awards, recognising outstanding achievement.
This honour builds upon last year’s Awesome Woman in Construction Awards, where Taylah earned both the Young Achiever and Young Leader titles.
This honour builds upon last year’s Awesome Woman in Construction Awards, where Taylah earned both the Young Achiever and Young Leader titles.
For Taylah, the prestigious Harry Hauenschild prize is both the culmination of an immensely rewarding apprentice training period, and the foundation for her hoped-for future in engineering.
“I didn’t want to go into engineering straight out of school,” she explains. “It was important for me to take the trade path first; to really understand what engineering decisions look like in the field to build that bridge between the theoretical and practical down the track.”
Taylah graduated as an electrical fitter mechanic late last year and is part of our Customer Service group in Cairns, tackling metering work, new connections and disaster response.
She was part of the North Queensland army who travelled to South East Qld last year to help repair and rebuild the network after Cyclone Alfred belted the region, an experience which underscored her decision for a trade-first/engineering-next career path.
She was part of the North Queensland army who travelled to South East Qld last year to help repair and rebuild the network after Cyclone Alfred belted the region, an experience which underscored her decision for a trade-first/engineering-next career path.
“It was eye-opening to see the complexity of a big disaster response in the field, and to truly appreciate how much it means to customers,” Taylah says. “There are things that you learn in a classroom or textbook, but you don’t fully understand how these translate into practical reality until you’re in the middle of it.”
For now, Taylah is focused on building her skills and experience in the field, and enjoying the respite from an incredibly hectic four years of training and studying.
Next month, she’ll be among the cream of the state’s apprentice talent at the Queensland Training Awards State Final – we’ll be cheering her on, every step of the way.
For now, Taylah is focused on building her skills and experience in the field, and enjoying the respite from an incredibly hectic four years of training and studying.
Next month, she’ll be among the cream of the state’s apprentice talent at the Queensland Training Awards State Final – we’ll be cheering her on, every step of the way.