CECIMO tackles the skills challenge!
CECIMO at EuroSkills 2014
October 2 to 4, CECIMO was at EuroSkills 2014, the largest European skills competition. Held this year in the Lille Grand Palais in France, the event allowed 450 young skilled workers from 25 countries to meet and compete over 3 days to show their excellence in 41 skills. Euroskills 2014 also provided to various organizations from industry and education the platform to organize events and exchange views.
The European machine tool industry is an innovative sector of high technology, so the availability of up-to-date skills is essential to maintain the sector’s competitiveness and sustainability. Showcasing skills in the context of a competition is a good way to catch young people’s interest in promising but not so well known trades, which is why CECIMO was actively involved in the EuroSkills Show. Hundreds of young and motivated students, professionals, parents and teachers across Europe visited CECIMO’s exhibition booth where they have learned about the machine tool industry as well as the rewarding career opportunities offered by the sector. More information here.
Competitions were held in various sectors, including manufacturing technologies, and national teams from across Europe competed in the “CNC Milling” and “Mechanical Engineering Design-CAD” areas throughout the show. Filip Geerts, CECIMO Director General, said: “EuroSkills is an excellent opportunity for us to communicate the career opportunities offered by the machine tool sector. From apprentices to postgraduate student, all can find excellent and challenging career opportunities in European machine tool companies, where they will have the chance to develop innovative and sustainable solutions to meet the changing demands of customer sectors such as automotive, aerospace or energy”.
Launch of NAMA - Numeracy for Advanced Manufacturing Erasmus+ Project
In September 2014, CECIMO and its partners across Europe launched a new Erasmus+ Project aiming at improving numeracy skills of students and young professionals in the machine tool sector. Because of high technical requirements and rapid innovation, these skills are increasingly needed by machine tool builders and as users. European MT builders have traditionally been a heavyweight investor in STEM skills training and the NAMA Project is expected to provide them with a common European platform. The project’s first task is to conduct a detailed analysis of the numerical skill needs of the European machine tool industry. The two-year strategic partnership project NAMA will also develop EU-level policy recommendations on advancing numerical understanding and skills of students and young professionals.
Alison Bettac, Director of Training at the AMRC Training Center, says: "The University of Sheffield and the AMRC Training Centre are pleased to be a part of the NAMA project as this will enable individuals that work in the advanced manufacturing sector to benchmark and develop numerical skills that are required to meet the challenges of the sector. In addition, materials from this project may also be used within the education community that feeds the advanced manufacturing sector, and will help set the bar for numerical skills required to enter the sector."