Engineering apprentice takes skills to international competition

Engineering apprentice, Isaac Khan, represented the UK in this year’s WorldSkills competition in Russia. The talented student is now completing the Level 3 BTEC in Engineering and on the way to becoming a qualified mechanical engineer. We caught up with him to find out more.

What made you choose your course?
I studied this course as part of my four year apprenticeship at CarnaudMetalbox, and Keighley College is where I did my initial training.

What were your highlights at the college?
Highlights at college has to be receiving my certificates, it’s good to know all my hard work has paid off.

What are you doing now?
I’m currently in my last year of my apprenticeship and I’m finishing a Level 3 NVQ so I will be a fully qualified mechanical engineer.

What do you enjoy most about it?
Engineering is something I enjoy, working on machines and learning different skills is something I get to do every day. The support from everyone at work is great, they’re always willing to help me develop.

What competitions have you been involved in?
I’ve been involved in the WorldSkills competition for the last two years, we initially competed in the UK national finals where we were able to win gold and qualify for Squad UK. After this, we qualified for Team UK and represented the country this summer in Kazan, Russia along with 35 other young people.

What did you have to do?
We had to design, manufacture and assemble an electric wheelchair in a three day competition against seven other countries from around the world. We had various surprise tasks that we had to produce components for and test our wheelchair to ensure it was up to the international standard. We were able to finish 6th in a tough competition which is something we are really proud of!

How did you get involved in these?
I got involved in this through work, it’s something that our company has been involved in for almost a decade and has seen us send four teams to international competitions around the globe.

I would like to say a big thank you to my former tutors Ronnie Magee and George Myles for their training and support over the last two years which was crucial on our journey to Russia!