Two of the 17 men and women representing Ireland in the 45th WorldSkills competition, are SETU students
The WorldSkills Kazan 2019 is the 45th WorldSkills competition and among the competitors and experts representing Ireland are a number of people with SETU links.
It is the first time the competition – which will have 1,300 competitors from 60 countries – takes place in Russia – in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan.
Team Ireland consists of 17 participants and a number of experts. SETU is represented in two categories Cooking and Building Information Modelling.
Cookery
Almost all competitors are under the age of 23, and are competing in Russia for gold, silver, and bronze medals. Medallions for Excellence are also awarded to Competitors who achieve above average scores in their contest areas.
Representing Ireland in Cookery is Hanna Mathe, who has just completed her third year of the BA (Hons) in Culinary Arts. Hanna has been winning awards since her first year in college. Hanna is one of 46 competitors in the Cooking category and has been training for the event at Dundalk Institute of Technology in advance.
Building Information Modelling
Representing Ireland in Building Information Modelling is SETU student Luke O’Keeffe who is one of a two-person team from Ireland along with Technological University of Dublin team-mate Ryan Dempsey. Four other countries are participating Belarus, Russia, Poland and Singapore.
Luke is a BSc (Hons) in Architectural and Building Information Technology year 3 student.
The BIM competition is in the Future Skills Zone, a specialized zone for showcases and competitions in skills, which are in demand in the era of high-tech production and digital economy.
Expert lecturer onboard
Also in Kazan as Irish BIM expert is SETU Department of Architecture lecturer Gordon Chisholm.
There are 56 Skill competitions across six skills sectors: Construction and Building Technology, Creative Arts and Fashion, Information and Communication Technology, Manufacturing and Engineering Technology, Social and Personal Services, Transportation and Logistics.