WorldSkills finalists selected at NorthTec

Media release:

WorldSkills regional finalists selected at NorthTec

Kaitaia’s Curtis Hartley and Whangarei’s Matthew Baird will be representing Northland at the WorldSkills national finals in Christchurch in September after coming out on top in their respective automotive and welding categories during the regional competition held at NorthTec recently.

WorldSkills is an international organisation that runs work skill competitions to measure skills excellence around the world. Competitors at the national finals in September will be vying for a place on the New Zealand WorldSkills team that will compete against representatives from 50 other countries at the international WorldSkills competition in London next year.

Curtis is doing his apprenticeship with Archibald Motors in Kaitaia and is the third year of his National Certificate in Automotive Engineering at NorthTec. Matthew Baird is working for Industrial Stainless Design in Whangarei as a light metal fabricator specialising in stainless steel and aluminium.

NorthTec Automotive tutor Simon Phelps said that Curtis had to do six different activities testing his abilities across a range of skills such as gearbox repair, engine management and wheel alignment.

“Fourteen young tradespeople from around the country compete in the automotive section at the national competition.” NorthTec will be providing three automotive judges for the national competition.

NorthTec Engineering tutor Leon Ducrot has himself competed at national level in WorldSkills and knows how tough the competition will be. “I’ll be doing three hours a week of preparation work with Matthew so they he has a good honest shot at doing well at the nationals.”

WorldSkills is a great programme and can lead open up many doors for successful competitors, said Leon.

“It opened up huge opportunities for me offshore and locally. Companies overseas train apprentices just for WorldSkills. It’s a brilliant programme.”
NorthTec graduate Marcel Woods won the national WorldSkills competition in 2008 and went on to represent New Zealand at the international WorldSkills competition in Calgary last year. He was place 10th in the world at the international competition.

ends

© Scoop Media