Northern Regional College lecturer in Engineering and WorldSkills UK Training Manager in Robot Systems Integration, Karla Kosch explained: “This is a great achievement for the students and could potentially lead to their progression towards the qualifier stage in June and lastly, the UK National final in November. We are extremely proud of our three teams and hope they can have as much success in the National final as our three winning teams from last year.”
The ‘Wrightbots’ is made up of Ryan Crooks and Ben Robinson-Bell, Higher Level Apprentices with Wrightbus who are completing their Foundation Degrees in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at Northern Regional College’s Ballymena campus.
Speaking on behalf of the team, Ryan said: “We have entered the Robotics WorldSkills UK National competition to gain experience in using industrial robots as we feel this will be a beneficial skill for our future careers.”
‘Gonk’ is made up of Jason Scott, a Foundation Degree student in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and Charlie Carson, a Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering student.
Commenting on behalf of ‘Gonk’, Jason said: “We hope to gain a greater sense of teamwork and problem-solving skills through competing at the WorldSkills UK National competition, as well as improving our knowledge of robotic systems.
“Our goal is to make it to the international competition in Lyon, France 2024 and maybe even win it if we are up to the challenge. Ultimately, we are doing this for the invaluable experience and insight into a subject area that we find extremely interesting.”
The ‘Elite Engineers’ is comprised of Julia Miller, who completed her Foundation Degree in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at the College and is currently completing her degree in the same subject at Ulster University, and Lewis Wright, who is studying his Level 3 BTEC Extended Diploma in Electrical & Electronic Engineering at the College.
Speaking on behalf of ‘Elite Engineers’, Julia said: “We believe that our mix of skills and knowledge made us a great team. WorldSkills UK is a great learning opportunity for us, as well as a chance to further our experiences with robotics and gain new skills.”