The Engineers of Tomorrow competition was once again a big draw at IFSEC International, taking place in the brand-new Installer Live Zone at the 2015 show.Sponsored by CSL DualCom, NSI, SSAIB and Skills for Security the competition served as a platform through which apprentices and engineers not only burnished their credentials as installers/engineers but helped to raise the profile of their employers too.
The winners – which included Kings Security’s Harrison Cook, who was recently interviewed by IFSEC Global – also earned NVQ portfolio credits.
Competitors had 90 minutes in which to install and find faults with a security system. The overall winners and their employers will be invited to the prestigious Security Excellence Awards, which take place 25 November in London, where the Engineer of Tomorrow 2015 winner will be anointed and claim a £1,000 prize.
Engineers of Tomorrow is part of Apprenticeships for Fire & Security, an initiative that places apprentices into careers in the security industry industry and supports their development.
Co-founded by Simon Banks, group managing director of CSL DualCom and number 13 in IFSEC’s most influential people in the security industry 2015, the initiative has already helped launch the careers of more than 3,000 young apprentices.
“Left unchecked, the UK skills gap will match that of post-war Britain by 2020,” said Banks. “The security industry, along with 100 other sectors, is forming its own ‘Trailblazer’ framework curriculum for issue in 2017 to help close the gap. Well done to all of the employers and apprentices who took part in this year’s competition and are already recognising the benefits of apprenticeships.”
This year’s heat winners included:
The runners up included entrants from Banham, Swift Fire and Security, PG Security and Fidelity Integrated Systems.
If there is such a skills ago, why are the only women mentioned / shown here are the CSLDualCom models posing with the winners? Do you think this is an appropriate depiction / inclusion of women?
Kings were due to have a female apprentice at this year’s competition but due to unforseen circumstances, she was unable to attend. We are constantly trying to recruit more female engineers into our apprentice scheme and hope to see more female apprentices at IFSEC next year.