routeone attended the testing days of the IRTE Skills Challenge to see what unfolds for the challengers
Alarms were sounding and horns were blowing as teams from around the country and beyond competed in the IRTE Skills Challenge last Wednesday (7 June).
Now in its seventh year, the IRTE Skills Challenge is an opportunity for engineers to test their skills and knowledge against others in the industry.
The third day of the competition saw Abellio, Metrolink London, Lothian Buses, Tower Transit UK and Tower Transit Singapore competing in the biggest IRTE Skills Challenge since it was launched, with 25 teams taking part over the four days.
The challenges
There were three departments of engineering tested: Electrical, bodywork and mechanical, with a mixture of theory and practical based challenges.
Challenges ranged from electrical faults, a DVSA bus which required a full inspection, a tyre inspection, a measuring task, online tests and more.
The challengers
Many of the competitors have been in the industry for many years, but despite the experience, some still felt the nerves.
Paul More, a workshop controller at Lothian Buses – who has been in the industry for 12 years – described how he felt after his first challenge was over: “I was nervous to start with but once I got on to it, it was alright. I didn’t know what to expect as I’ve never done this before.”
Challengers came from far and wide to take part in the IRTE Skills Challenge, which took place in Bristol.
A team of four from Tower Transit Singapore – which included an electrician, apprentice electrician, coach maker and mechanic – had travelled 6,840 miles to attend the challenge, which took place in Bristol.
“The reason we brought a team over from Singapore was to showcase Singapore’s skills,” says Ray Silcox, Senior Diagnostics Engineer and Trainer, Singapore.
“The IRTE Skills Challenge offers a real broad selection of skills for all trades, and it’s remarkably well organised,” he adds. “It’s very important for the team to enjoy themselves and show they’ve got the skills, and when we go back to Singapore we can work and build on that for next year.”
Stuart Attfield, Brand Manager for sponsor Bridgestone, says: “Bridgestone has long felt that engineers in the coach and bus industry are among the very best, and the Skills Challenge plays a crucial role in highlighting this fact to everybody else outside of the sector.”
The benefits
Claire Brack, Marketing Service Manager Europe for sponsor Allison Transmission, says the IRTE Skills Challenge is “confirming the UK as a centre of excellence.”
The testing day highlighted that there are many benefits of the Skills Challenge, for both sponsors and challengers.
Support, development and networking were the three key benefits which were focused on, with the sponsors agreeing that networking was one of the most important benefit for them.
“From a sponsor’s perspective, you only know your product, so you produce your product or your bus, and you don’t get to see actually the people who work on them,” says Mr Attfield. “It allows us as people within the industry to get a bit more knowledge, know-how and best practice from our fellows.”
The future
When asked what she thought the future holds for the Skills Challenge, Caroline Szeremeta, Group Marketing Manager at Alexander Dennis, says: “I’d like to see it grow year-on-year and I think with more sponsors coming onboard and with more publicity, hopefully that will happen – so next year it’s even bigger and better.”
Mr Attfield says: “Bridgestone has been with the Skills Challenge since its inception, and the partnership with the IRTE Skills Challenge runs deeper than title sponsorship alone.
“Bridgestone’s name is synonymous with training, support and investment, and that is why the company regards to sponsorship so highly; for us it’s viewed as an industry defining initiative, and as a premium tyre manufacturer, a focus on excellence and improving the skills of staff is central to Bridgestone’s company.
“Therefore, the opportunity to continue to support an initiative to recognise skills within the coach and bus industry was a natural extension of our own company philosophy.
“The fact that we’ve got a team from Singapore this year that shows in itself how far the influence has reached.”
The winning engineers are due to be named at the awards evening on 13 July.
Comment
With a range of tasks to test the skills of engineers from all over the country, this was the perfect opportunity to meet some of the best in the industry.
It was an inspiring day to see the determination these men had for their careers, and the Skills Challenge was the perfect platform for them to showcase their hard work and utilise their skills and knowledge.
It’s obvious that from this challenge, the engineers love the industry. There was a sense of friendly competition – they all wanted to win of course – but it was clear from who we spoke to, that they were just happy to be there competing for the title.
The sponsors and partners spoke highly of the event, with all having positive aspirations for its future – to grow year-on-year – and with this being the largest turnout since it was launched back in 2010, it’s showing no signs of slowing down.
Find out more: www.soe.org.uk/irte-skills-challenge/
