Media releases

Federation TAFE Information Technology teacher, Dr Adam Bignold has been named a finalist for the Teacher/Trainer of the Year at the 70th Victorian Training Awards (VTA). 

Adam was nominated for revamping Federation’s Certificate IV in Cyber Security to better meet the needs of neurodiverse and mature age students.  

His innovative and flexible approach to teaching saw him previously named 2024 Teacher/Trainer of the Year at the Federation TAFE Awards for Excellence and has increased student retention, engagement, and doubled the number of female students studying cybersecurity at Federation TAFE.  

Adam’s development of the curriculum has also seen students compete on the international stage. Last year his Certificate IV students formed two teams to compete in the prestigious DownunderCTF cybersecurity competition, where competitors apply hacking skills to solve challenges in cryptography, web, open-source intelligence, reverse engineering, and exploitation.  

Over 2,100 teams from around the world entered the competition including professional organisations, hackers, and hobbyists. Federation’s all-female student team, the Cyber Chicks, placed first in their category while the second student team placed ninth out of 77 tertiary education teams. 

The VTA honour the best in Victoria’s Vocational Education and Training and skills sector, celebrating outstanding achievement of apprentices, trainees, students, teachers, employers, training providers, and industry. The finalists were announced by Minister for Training and Skills and Higher Education Gayle Tierney.  

Award winners will be revealed at the Victorian Training Awards Gala to be held at The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday 30 August. Recipients will later have the chance to represent Victoria at the 2024 Australian Training Awards, the peak national Awards showcasing best practice in vocational education and training. 

Quote attributable to Federation University Australia Provost Liam Sloan 

“It is gratifying to see a Federation TAFE teacher shortlisted for Victorian Teacher/Trainer of the Year Award for the second year running. Adam is a talented, highly skilled and passionate trainer with the ability to make information technology interesting and fun. He has improved engagement and retention in the Certificate IV in Cyber Security, particularly from students who are female, with neurodiversity and students from non-English speaking backgrounds and his commitment to his students’ success is evident in the great feedback he receives. All of Federation is right behind him.” 

Quote attributable to Teacher/Trainer of the Year finalist Dr Adam Bignold 

“I have worked hard to create a course that meets the diverse needs of our community and I'm thrilled to be a finalist for the VTA Teacher/Trainer of the Year! It's a huge honour and really shows the hard work and dedication of our students and team.” 

““The highlight of 2023 was undoubtedly our all-female student team winning the international hacking competition. Information Technology is a rapidly evolving industry, and we need students that can solve the problems of today and tomorrow which is why, in my classroom, I’m training hackers. Hackers see problems as challenges to overcome and find the joy in trying solution after solution until they find one that works.”