Leaders in welding and manufacturing from across New South Wales and the ACT were celebrated in Sydney at Weld Australia’s 2025 NSW & ACT Welding Excellence Awards, honouring standout projects, people, and organisations shaping the industry’s future.
Presented annually by Weld Australia, the awards recognise innovation and technical skill that strengthen Australia’s manufacturing capability.
Weld Australia CEO Geoff Crittenden said this year’s winners exemplified best practice and ambition in a rapidly evolving sector.
“Our NSW and ACT winners are not only demonstrating best practice, they are raising the bar for what welding can achieve,” Crittenden said.
“Whether through technology, training, or safety, they’re building resilience and competitiveness for the entire nation.”
Chess Engineering was named 2025 NSW Company of the Year – Fabrication for its advanced work across multiple sectors, including mining, rail, and food manufacturing.
According to Weld, the company recently opened a 13,000m² facility in Sydney featuring robotic and laser welding systems.
ACT Steelworks took home the ACT Company of the Year – Fabrication Award for over five decades of innovation and craftsmanship in the metalwork industry.
Joint winners for Project of the Year were Halliday Engineering for fabricating new bow ramps for the Australian Army’s amphibious fleet, and Morgan Engineering for the structural overhaul of an EX8000 mining attachment.
Other winners included Apex Welding Safety (Health and Safety in Welding Award), Kemppi (Company of the Year – Supplier), and Macfab Engineering (CEO’s Award).
Individual honours went to Cooper Thornely (Young Trades Person of the Year), Youngho Jeong (Trades Person of the Year), and Shane Michael (Training and Education – Individual Teacher Award).
Crittenden said the awards reflected the strength and innovation of Australia’s manufacturing workforce.
“These Awards remind us that welding is as much about innovation and problem-solving as it is about technical mastery,” he said.
