Alexander Dennis through its AD24 Training Academy was among supporters of the IRTE Skills Challenge. It comes as the vehicle manufacturer says it is seeing demand for expert electrical training continue to grow.
For the Skills Challenge testing week at S&B Automotive Academy in Bristol, Alexander Dennis supplied an Enviro100EV battery-electric bus, with the AD24 Training Academy team setting two challenges on and off the vehicle.
Those challenges focused on door systems and reflected how mechanical issues are increasingly intertwined with electrical components, such as pneumatic pumps now being electrically controlled.
Alexander Dennis Head of Product Information and Training Laura Tofts led three expert trainers at the event. She says: “The coach and bus industry relies on the fantastic skills of its technicians, and at Alexander Dennis, nurturing and developing these skills in person is even more important than the financial support we give to the IRTE Skills Challenge.
“That is why in addition to our presence during the testing week, we invested many hours of preparation to develop meaningful tasks and ensure that we would be able to score them consistently.”
The manufacturer says that courses at the AD24 Training Academy now include tuition on electrical systems at four levels. Those range from the Introduction to Electrical Systems course, which provides a first step into low-voltage environments, to Advanced Electrical Systems at the other end of the scale.
The latter course upskills even the most experienced technicians to offer continued development, says Alexander Dennis. It adds that these AD24 Training Academy courses are not specific to its own vehicles and are instead aimed at upskilling people for the wider industry with a mix of classroom learning and hands-on training on test rigs and vehicles.
Adds Ms Tofts: “We want to arm people with the knowledge to go in and diagnose more challenging faults as vehicle systems get more complex and more electrically based.
“The IRTE Skills Challenge always gives us a great platform to do that outside of our own courses and the experience informs how we develop our courses further.”
