Jason Scott and Charlie Carson, who are competing in the Robot Systems Integration category at EuroSkills in Gdansk, Poland.
Two former Foundation degree engineering students who studied at Northern Regional College in Ballymena are in Poland this week to compete at EuroSkills, the biggest vocational education and skills excellence event in Europe.
Charlie Carson and Jason Scott, who studied Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering and Electric and Electronic Engineering respectively, have qualified to represent Team UK in the Robot Systems Integration category.
Team UK comprises of the top apprentices and students from across a broad spectrum of disciplines from engineering to construction, digital to creative. At the finals in Gdansk in Poland, they will be up against skilled young professionals from 32 countries.
Karla Kosch, Engineering lecturer at Northern Regional College who is Robot Systems Integration WorldSkills UK Training Manager and Deputy Chief Expert for EuroSkills, said competing in the finals was an excellent opportunity for Charlie and Jason:
“To secure their place on Team UK, Charlie and Jason had to go through an exhaustive selection process which started back in November 2022 when they were gold medal winners at the WorldSkills UK national finals."
Charlie Carson, who is from Ballymoney, said competing in WorldSkills was a great learning experience and securing a place on Team UK at EuroSkills just made the journey even more remarkable.
He continued: “I’m really looking forward to representing Team UK at the EuroSkills finals in Gdansk. This is the first time that Robot Systems Integration has been included as part of Team UK for the European competition which makes it even more special.
“As we progressed through the different qualifying stages of the competition, we learnt a lot of new skills, both from the other competitors as well as from our very supportive and experienced lecturers. It will be great to get a chance to put these into practice at the EuroSkills finals.”
He added: “I would encourage anyone thinking about taking part in the WorldSkills competitions to jump at the opportunity. Hard work and dedication are essential but the rewards and invaluable experience you will gain will make it all worthwhile.”
Following the European Finals, Charlie and Jason will continue their training with WorldSkills UK with the aim of being selected for WorldSkills International competition which take place in Lyon, France next year.
WorldSkills UK is a partnership between education, industry and UK governments that works to raise standards in technical and apprenticeships, champions future skills and empowers young people to succeed. www.worldskillsuk.org