To reach the UK finals, competitors had to make it through the fiercely competitive regional qualifying rounds by completing a series of tasks in their specific skill area. When scores from all the competitors across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were collated, the top eight were awarded a coveted final spot.
All eight finalists in the Industrial Robotics category studied engineering at the College’s Ballymena campus. They are Cameron Middleton, Adam Kirkpatrick, Jude Moore, Aaron Stevenson, Brennan Wilson, Louie Heath, Thomas Simpson and Julia Millar are from Northern Regional College. The other College finalists are Savannah Hodgins (3D Digital Games Art); Lydia Fletcher (IT Software Solutions for Business) and Jonathon Wilsdon (Web Design).
The national finals are traditionally held at the NEC, Birmingham but, because of Covid restrictions, this year, the national finals will take place in locations across the UK: IT Software Solutions for Business finals will be in Lanarkshire; Web Design in Weston Super Mare, Somerset and 3D Digital Games Art in Media City in Salford, Manchester. With all eight Industrial Robotics finalists from Northern Regional College, the College’s Farm Lodge campus has been selected as the venue for the Industrial Robotics final.
Congratulating the finalists, Gordon Kane, the College’s Skills’ Champion, said it was a wonderful achievement for them and the College was justifiably proud.
“It’s a wonderful achievement to get through to this stage of the competition and it is a great boost to have on their CVs. Competing in the national finals is an opportunity to showcase their specialist skills on a national stage and to benchmark themselves against the very best in the country.
He added that the students and their lecturers who prepared them so well for the qualifying rounds deserved great credit: “What they have achieved so far is a reflection of their commitment and dedication and I wish them every success in the national finals.”
Northern Regional College has a proven track record at Worldskills UK finals. In recent years former Foundation Degree Engineering student Rory McCloskey and Carpentry apprentice Samuel Gilmore won gold medals in Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Milling and Carpentry respectively.