News & Events
Students show their metal
- 12/09/2018
- Posted by: pembscollegesuperadmin
Students at Pembrokeshire College’s MITEC centre have been busy over the last few weeks competing to secure their places in upcoming UK skills competitions.
February saw six students competing in the passive heats for UK SkillWeld. With four hours to carry out three process (MMA, TIG and MIG), the students were keen to impress the judges, especially as the semi-finals are set to be held at MITEC during May.
Judged by College lecturer Mike Tennick and Martin Farthin, from The Welding Institute, the judges took over an hour to reach their final decision in a very close competition. Martin commented: “It was a gallant effort from all competitors. There were some tough welds and judging wasn’t easy. Good luck to those who have made it through to the semi-final.”
First place went to Ross Lascelles, an apprentice with Mainport 1990, second place went to Luke Lawrence, an apprentice with Ledwoods, and third place went to Gavin Campbell, an apprentice with Port Engineering. These students are now preparing for the semi-finals in May.
With the competition season well and truly underway, last week then saw another two MITEC students travel to Coleg Sir Gar to take part in the Welsh Construction Metalworking Competition (Plating). As part of the competition the students were given a fabrication exercise to complete in five hours. The exercise included many processes to test the candidates’ ability including marking out, bending, cutting, drilling and welding steel to a tolerance of 2mm.
Following a tough day Jake Griffiths, an apprentice with Mainport 1990, finished second while Amy Phillips picked up fourth place but scored enough points to see her competing alongside Jake in the semi-finals to be held at Coleg Sir Gar in June.
Opened in 2007, the centre is rapidly earning itself a reputation as the place for aspiring welders/platers and pipefitters to learn their trade. To find out more about the courses available at MITEC, call Admissions on 0800 9 776 788.
MITEC would like to take this opportunity to thank all the local employers for their continual support in releasing students to compete in local and regional competitions.