Angus College engineering student Steven Donnelly was the recipient of some good news recently when he learned he would be representing the UK in the CNC Milling category at the forthcoming WorldSkills event to be held at London’s ExCeL from 5-8 October 2011.

Engineering has been in 19 year old Mr Donnelly’s blood from an early age. He is currently studying as an engineering apprentice at Angus College in Arbroath whilst working for family business Diemax Precision Engineering based in Dundee. Father Peter and Mother Phyllis are co-directors of the company which has been in business for 28 years employing five members of staff.

Mr Donnelly’s meteoric rise to stardom began with a suggestion from college tutor Bob Gold that he should enter the UK Skills 2010 competition. He submitted a test piece which was assessed and accepted by a team of judges. The next step was participation in the UK finals held in Wales in June 2010 where Mr Donnelly triumphed against three other competitors. At this event the standard of his work was so high that he received a gold award.

Parents Peter and Phyllis are naturally proud of their son’s achievements – especially when Steven’s relatively young age against the competition is taken into consideration. “Steven is only 19 and was competing against apprentices in their 20s from much bigger companies,” Peter Donnelly emphasised. “I think there was even a trainee from Rolls-Royce so this is truly a remarkable achievement for someone working for a small engineering company in Dundee.”

Angus College engineering curriculum manager, Jim Stewart echoed the sentiment: “Steven is a very hardworking and enthusiastic student and thoroughly deserves his chance to represent the UK at such a prestigious event. We’re very proud that an Angus College student has achieved such high levels of excellence through natural skill, hard work and dedication.”

“Participating in the WorldSkills competitions has been an amazing experience,” Mr Donnelly concluded. “It has really helped me develop my own skills and I’m really looking forward to the finals in October.”

Taking place in a different country every two years, WorldSkills brings together over 1,000 skills 'Olympians’ from across the globe to compete for Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in 45 different skills categories. The event has been running for 60 years with over 50 member nations. 150,000 expected visitors will see 1,000 competitors battling it out in 45 skill areas over four days of competition.

Diemax
www.diemax.co.uk

Angus College
www.angus.ac.uk

WorldSkills 2011
www.worldskillslondon2011.com