TAFE NSW Riverina Institute Leeton Campus student Karen Mills scooped the pool at the recent annual Institute awards.

The event honours the Riverina Institute's outstanding students from 2013, with Ms Mills the winner of the Electrotechnology Excellence Award and the Leeton Student of the Year.

Ms Mills has acquired a Certificate III in Electrotechnology after enrolling in 2010.

She was undeterred at being the only female in her class and was regularly scoring top marks above her fellow peers.

Ms Mills has also undertaken further studies in metal welding and fabrication since completing her electrotechnology course.

She was among 30 top award winners were chosen from almost 30,000 students that studied with Riverina Institute in 2013.

Institute Director Kerry Penton highlighted their achievements.

"Winning an award for excellence takes an enormous amount of determination, resilience and leadership," she said.

"Our award winners deserve to be here and are the very best of our graduates.

"You possess the right mix of skills, tenacity and professionalism to become standard bearers for your industries and communities."

Fellow Leeton resident Michael Smith also received an excellence award for engineering, while campus student Kuine Potaka, was recognised for excellence in aged care.