IRTE Skills Challenge winners
The winners of the IRTE Skills Challenge were crowned in a ceremony at the Williams F1 conference centre in Oxfordshire on July 13. The awards ceremony was the conclusion of a competition involving twenty-five teams designed to find the best bus and coach technicians in the UK. A total of 28 awards were given out on the day.
And the winners are…
Bournemouth Transport won the IRTE Outstanding Team Award, while Wayne Ellis from Arriva UK Bus took home the Philip Margrave Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement.
Top Scoring DVSA Inspection Technician was awarded to Karl McTague of Translink, with Eugene Arbuzov of First Bus UK taking the prize for the DVSA Inspection Apprentice.
Top Scoring Bodywork Technician, sponsored by Bridgestone, was Lee Howe of RATP Dev London. The runner up was Elton Musson, Bournemouth Transport.
The Shell Lubricants sponsored Top Scoring Electrical Technician went to First Bus UK’s Mark Aldwin. Dan Large of Bournemouth Transport took the runner up spot.
The top Scoring Mechanical Technician, taking home the Allison Transmission Patricia Ann Cobbold Award, went to Karl McTague of Translink. The runner up was Arriva UK Bus’s Wayne Ellis.
Top Scoring Electrical & Mechanical Award, sponsored by Knorr-Bremse, went to Tower Transit Operations’s Sebastian Choluj and Jason Herbert. Wojciech Kasprzak and Karl McTague from Translink took the runner up spot.
The Top Scoring Mechanical and Bodywork Award, sponsored by ADL, was won by Ian Stapeley and Lee Howe of RATP Dev London. The runners up were Tower Transit Singapore’s Suey Huat Ng and Muhammad Syafidi Chua Bin Irwan.
The DVSA supported Top Scoring DVSA Inspection Technician award went to Karl McTague from Translink. Bournemouth Transport’s Steve Evans was runner up.
The Top Scoring DVSA Inspection Apprentice was Eugene Arbuzov from First Bus UK. the runner up was Arriva UK Bus’s Kelsie Dugmore.
Tom Padget of Arriva UK Bus won the Top Scoring Bodywork Apprentice award, with the runner up being Shane Keaveney of Arriva UK Bus.
The Top Scoring Electrical Apprentice award, sponsored by BAE Systems, went to Ben Shirley of Arriva UK Bus. The runner up was Stephen Wood of First Bus UK.
Top Scoring Mechanical Apprentice, sponsored by Groeneveld, was Eugene Arbuzov of First Bus UK. Arriva UK Bus’s Kelsie Dugmore was named runner up.
All winners were given a set of Teng Tools.
SOE Chief Executive, Ian Chisholm, said: “This competition is a wonderful example of how capable modern engineers are, regardless of the sector. We have seen the contestants rewarded today for their ability to use their initiative in several different examinations, over the course of the testing week. To attract so many teams is hugely encouraging and bodes well for engineering in the UK.”
“Our intention is to show the environment in which modern engineers operate, and we look forward to doing the same next year, but on a bigger scale again. If we are to attract more engineers into this sector, we need to continue to show the varied and diverse roles available to those keen to pursue a vocational career path. I would like to thank our sponsors, supporters and partners, without whom the Skills Challenge would not be possible.”
Tower Transit of Singapore, the first team from outside the British Isles, picked up the runner-up in the Mechanical and Bodywork award. The Skills Challenge testing week takes place each year at the S&B Automotive Training Academy in Bristol.