To help encourage students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), Gloucestershire-based Renishaw, a global engineering company, sponsored both the WorldSkills competition and the Education and Development zone at MACH 2022, the UK’s national exhibition for the manufacturing and engineering industry. The event took place at the NEC, Birmingham in April, and as part of its sponsorship, Renishaw provided equipment for the WorldSkills competition which ran during the show.

Finalists from the WorldSkills UK and European squads completed pressure tests and timed activities to showcase their design and machining skills. As a sponsor, Renishaw provided spindle probes and tool setting probes for the 500 LR vertical machining centres loaned by XYZ Machine Tools.

The finalists were given drawings for three parts that they had to interpret and convert into a CAD model. They then had to program machines and manufacture the part, including probing routines, to meet set tolerances. The competitors were scored depending on how close the part was to tolerance, as well as meeting other judgement criteria, such as finishing the part to an industry standard or higher.

Michael Watson, UK training manager at WorldSkills and CNC programmer at GKN Aerospace, said: “Running a friendly competition at MACH 2022 gave participants a chance to test how well they work under pressure ahead of the WorldSkills final in October

“As well as getting the competitors out of their comfort zone and used to people watching them, holding a competition in the Education and Development zone gave us the chance to help visitors gain an understanding of what we do and encourage them to enter and diversify the competition further.”

Abigail Stansfield, a member of the WorldSkills UK Squad, said: “I was first introduced to WorldSkills when I went to the live event in 2018 with my company BAE Systems. After that event I decided to enter and was selected to compete in the national competition, where I took third position, something I was really proud of. After the friendly competition at MACH I am hopeful that I will be selected to compete in the global competition in Shanghai.”

She added: “I would recommend taking part in WorldSkills to anyone in the engineering industry. It doesn’t matter how experienced you are, you are probably better than you think — that was definitely the case for me. Entering a competition such as this can highlight your skills and potential to yourself, the company and the rest of the UK, so go for it!”

WorldSkills UK hosts competitions in over 50 disciplines, including engineering and construction, to help young people in these industries develop their skills.

As well as supporting initiatives such as WorldSkills and the MACH Education and Development zone, Renishaw runs an extensive education outreach programme to encourage students to pursue engineering and science-based careers. For further information, visit the website (www.renishaw.com/en/education-outreach--34713).