MTC Apprentice In Line For SEMTA Skills Award

Robotics apprentice is Apprentice of the Year nominee

A Manufacturing Technology Centre apprentice is in the running for a top award, after being short-listed for Apprentice of the Year (SME) in the prestigious SEMTA Skills Awards 2019.

Christian Attewell achieved his apprenticeship training through the Lloyds Bank sponsored Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centre (AMTC) in Coventry, while being employed by robotics and factory automation experts FANUC, also based on Ansty Park, Coventry.

Christian, who is 22, has already worked on a wide range of projects for FANUC and regularly delivers technical presentations to key external customers. He was a STEM ambassador for the AMTC.

Andy Armstrong, UK sales and marketing manager for FANUC, said, "Christian is a fantastic example of how the cross-collaboration between different industrial partners – in this case the MTC and FANUC – can produce exceptionally well-rounded engineers that will go on to shape the future of British manufacturing."

Paul Rowlett, managing director of the AMTC said Christian had been a model apprentice and had shown an impressive breadth and depth of technical understanding.

He said, "He is a first-class example of our efforts to seed the manufacturing sector with a pipeline of capable engineering technicians who can give a genuine return on investment and business impact."

The SEMTA Skills Awards will be presented next month. SEMTA – the Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies Alliance – is an employer-led organisation dedicated to improving the skills and productivity of people in the engineering and manufacturing sectors.

The MTC was founded by the University of Birmingham, Loughborough University, the University of Nottingham and TWI Ltd. The MTC’s industrial members include some of the UK’s major global manufacturers.

The MTC aims to provide a competitive environment to bridge the gap between university-based research and the development of innovative manufacturing solutions, in line with the Government’s manufacturing strategy. The MTC is part the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, supported by Innovate UK.