SkillFRIDGE SkillFRIDG E SkillFRIDGE 2019: A l eyes on the pr ze as regionals draw to a close


SkillFRIDGE 2019 : All el


es on the prize as regionals dri modern life.


TheUniversity of Padua in Italy played host to an international symposium organised in collaborationwith theNational Council of Research and Italian Union forThermal-fluidynamics,whileGerma KlimaTechnik held an open day, opening the d


oors to its technical training ny’s Bundesfachschule Kälte


centres and providing detailed information on the training and stud y programmes available .


Acommon goal


Back onUK soil, the Practical RefrigerationTraining Centre in Burnley took a very similar approach, not only serving as the site for one of the SkillFRIDGE regionals but also opening its doors and offering an industry ‘break out’ area with advice on training and entry into the RACHP sector, supported and attended by Pendle RefrigerationWholesale, Company, East Lancashire Chamber of Comm Institute of Refrigeration.


erce – LowCarbon, and the ControlsUK,The Skills


This month sees the SkillFRIDGE 2019 heats coming to an end with the last regional competition taking place on uesday 16 July atGrimsby Institute, before the six highest scoring RACHP apprentices turn their attention to the national final.


Over the past fewmonths, the best and brightest apprentice RACHP engineers have been battling it out in the SkillFRIDGE regional heats across theUK, demonstrating their knowledge and practical skills to the judgeswhile vying for a place in the final thisNovember.


The SkillFRIDGE 2019 national rankingswill be announced following the conclusion of the regionals,with the top six highest scorers going through to theWorldSkillsUK LIVE final at Birmingham’sNEC.Meanwhile, the highest overall scorer fromthe regional heatswill receive a special accolade at the Building Engineering ServicesAssociation (BESA)Awards later in the year. Regional contests have nowbeen completed at Cardiff andVale College, GlasgowKelvin College, Bath College, Eastleigh College and the Practical RefrigerationTraining Centre in Burnley, Lancashire.This latter heatwas held on 26 June,World RefrigerationDay, in a demonstration of SkillFRIDGE’s support for the industr y and this newly inaugurated camp aign.


The first everWorld RefrigerationDay


The concept of an annualWorld RefrigerationDaywas developed by former Institute of Refrigeration president SteveGill.


The initiative is intended to raise the profile of this essential industry – which plays a fundamental yet often under-acknowledged role inmodern life – to ensure that society at large has the opportunity to recognise the contribution that refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumpsmake to so many areas, fromthemedical industry to food supply and farming, process engineering and data and IT.


The first everWorld RefrigerationDay saw an array of supporting , awareness-raising events being held across the globe. In theUS, for example,UNEnvironment unitedwith the American Society ofHeating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) to deliver an accessible and informativewebinar entitled Refrigerants for life: h owrefrigerants affect


www.acr-news.com


Thismonth sees the SkillFRIDGE 2019 heats coming to an endwith the last regional competition taking place on Tuesday 16 July at Grimsby Institute, before the six highest scoring RACHP apprentices turn their attention to the national final.


Itmakes sense that SkillFRIDGE has chosen to align itself closelywith World RefrigerationDay, because the two initiatives share the same aim : raising the profile and visibility of the industry to improve its appeal and encourage newcomers, thereby helping to tackle the engineering skills shortage and secure the future of this vital sector.


To find outmore about howyou can sponsor the SkillFRIDGE competition series and showyour support for industry and its next generation of engineers, contact Karena Cooper at kcooper@datateam.co.uk


Representing RACHP in Russia


The RACHP industry is also expected to garnerworldwide attention nextmonth whenOrlando Rawlings, SkillFRIDGE 2017 bronzeme Kazan 201 representi


ng his industry against a host of 9 in Russia as part ofTeamUK, dallist, heads toWorldSkills


other nations. WithOrlando’s preparation for the


competition nowin full swing, his training manager and head judge for SkillFRIDGE, Mark Forsyth, explained: “As youwould expect, skills development forms a large


part of the training programme I have devised forOrlando.TheWorldSkills competition in Russia runs for four days and competitorswill be expected to compete for up to eight hours a day, so you could argue that theywork harder than anOlympic athlete.


“Orlando is fully aware that the final test atWorldSkills Kazanwill be a ‘blind test’whichmeans nobody, not evenme,will knowwhat needs to be built until arrival at the event.Therefore, in preparation, I have givenOrlando different exercises to develop his capability and hewill also travel to St. Petersburg in Russia for further training.


“However, technical skills of an individual are only half the storywhen it comes to taking part in international competitions.Orlando is no different; he needs themindset of amedalwinning champion if he is to succeed. ,


aw to a close


“AtWorldSkills Kazan 2019 we hope to replicate themedalwinning succes s that our athletes have enjoyed at recentOlympicGames, butwhatever the resultwe knowthatOrlando and the othermembers ofTeamUK (whowill compete in 33


different skills)will take back to their employers invaluable skillswhichwil l accelerate their apprenticeship training and career progression. ”


July 2019 71 17


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