Andrew Beel, who works at Pacson Valves in Dundee, has survived a gruelling four-year selection process to get to the pinnacle of his profession. Beel trained at New College, Lanarkshire, and has hopes of coming back with a gold medal for Mechanical Engineering CAD.
"Having dedicated four years of my life to get there, I am determined to do as well as I can," Beel said:"I am going for gold, and I have a realistic chance."
Chris Hanson, who has been selected to compete in Construction Metal Work for Team UK, works for Richard Alan Engineering in Yorkshire. "Being selected for WorldSkills São Paulo 2015 is an incredible honour and something I've been working towards for over two years. I would love to bring back the Gold Medal."
Winning gold at WorldSkills could change lives. Many emerging nations incentivise their competitors by rewarding Gold Medallists with life-long pensions, cash prizes and even houses.
Semta, the not for profit organisation, which drives the competition in the UK, says WorldSkills epitomises how nations treat their skilled young. "Britain should look and learn," Ann Watson, ceo of Semta, said: "The status of young engineering apprentices is far higher in other countries than it is here. Young engineers are lauded by other countries, given superstar status, feted by the media and applauded by the public. Semta wants other young people to want to emulate TeamUK and get energised by engineering."
