Ian attended the Toowoomba Technical Collage and undertook training in the inaugural, full year prevocational trades course which introduced a range of trades and offered young attendees the ability to trial a variety of individual trades.
After trialing construction and technical trades, he chose the technical stream and then finally the electrical/electronic blocks giving him his first year qualification for electrical.
A position was secured with the Royal Australian Air Force as a trainee radio and telecommunications technician, which gave Ian his first taste of travel and saw this country Queensland teen training in South Australia and Victoria.
After discharge from the RAAF, Ian completed his electrical apprenticeship with one of Australia’s leading privately owned electrical contractors, C.W. Norris and Co. in Melbourne.
As Norris had an extensive switchboard building facility, he was able to pretty much build everything by hand in his own time, for Scantec Entertainment, his live band lighting and sound business, including the lighting cans and rigs.
His electronics training in the RAAF gave him the knowledge to build his Musicolours, chasers, strobes and even his very first multiplexed lighting desk.