TATA apprentice’s Welsh win

A Llanelli apprentice has been named as Welsh champion in an engineering competition where he was challenged to test his skills in advanced computer aided design.

20 year-old Richard Havard-Griffiths, an engineering student at Coleg Sir Gâr’s Graig campus and an apprentice at TATA, won the Welsh national heat of Skills Competition Wales where he was competing in the Mechanical Engineering: CAD advanced category, open to level three students. He is one of ten shortlisted competitors from across the country who will take part in the two-day UK final taking place this autumn.

Adam Twells, Coleg Sir Gâr’s head of Engineering said: “Skills competitions really test the flare students have in specialist areas and Richard must be congratulated in doing so well in a national competition.

“The brief challenged candidates’ performances in a number of tasks including parametric modelling techniques, exploded views and producing technical drawings from a given part.”

Backed by the Welsh Government through the European Social Fund, Skills Competition Wales promotes the importance of developing a highly skilled workforce.

Richard is studying a HNC in mechanical and manufacturing engineering as part of his apprenticeship at TATA’s Trostre Works.