Students to Put Their Skills to the Test at WorldSkills UK Finals
Students from Coleg Menai’s Engineering and Construction departments will take part in the national-level WorldSkills Finals this month.
Over a period of 3 to 4 days, the students will be judged on their abilities in their specialist area, and compete against a number of learners from colleges across the UK.
Gold, silver or bronze medals will be up for grabs, and the winners may also be chosen for the international squad to go head-to-head with teams from other countries.
Plastering students Tom Devine and Josh Woosnam, have both reached the Finals of the Plastering competition, due to take place in Edinburgh between November 14th and November 18th. Tom, who works for local social housing provider ‘Adra’, has also been nominated for the UK-wide ‘Apprentice of the Year’ Plasterers’ Guild award.
Travelling to Blackpool and Fylde College, Giorgio Brown will take part in the CNC Turning finals. Giorgio has recently completed the Level 3 Mechanical Manufacturing Engineering qualification with Coleg Menai. Electrical/Electronics students, Adam Hopley and Cai Jones, will also head up to Blackpool to compete in the Industrial Electronics finals. Cai is competing in his second UK final in this discipline, having competed last year also. Adam received the bronze model in the Inspiring Skills Wales Competition in January 2022.
Cai Jones, Jack Williams, Lance Reynolds, and Axl Davies, who also study Electrical/Electronics at Coleg Menai, will go head to head against each other, and others, in the Industrial Robotics finals. Held at Fanuc UK Headquarters in Coventry, the students will be required to set up and program an industrial robot to execute a given task under time constraints. Both Lance and Axl were awarded gold medals in the Inspiring Skills Wales Competition in January 2022.
Another competitor who has won an Inspiring Skills Wales medal is Aron Wyn Jones, Level 3 Fabrication & Welding student and apprentice at Faun Trackway in Llangefni. Aron will travel to Middlesbrough College to take part in the Welding contest.
As well as the competitions, the students will be able to enjoy inspirational careers advisory events which will highlight a wide variety of apprenticeships, T-levels and technical education on offer. The combination of workshops, masterclasses, and interactive sessions will also provide the opportunity to talk directly to employers and industry experts.
Former apprentice and TV journalist Steph McGovern will be handing out medals to the winners from her ‘Packed Lunch’ studio on Friday 25 November. Coleg Menai HNC General Engineering student, Eva Voma, has been selected to attend the medal ceremony in the live studio as a ‘Role Model’, due to her success and talent within the Engineering industry.
Mark Allen, Assistant Principal at Coleg Menai, explained,
“We’d like to wish the best of luck to our students that are competing in this year’s WorldSkills UK Finals. Their achievement in reaching the national-level finals is testament to their hard work and passion”
“National competitions like this are a fantastic way for students to put their skills into practice, and to network with employers and like-minded learners”.