3 minute read
A medal of excellence
Jack Butler has represented New Zealand’s HVAC&R industry on the world stage, placing in the top 10 of competitors in the refrigeration, heating and air conditioning skill
A recap of the competition
Day one:
The event kicked off with an opening ceremony and pre-competition, competitors took part in One School One Country – a cultural exchange programme bringing together children from the host country of the competition with WorldSkills member countries and regions to share each other’s cultures, values, and increase awareness about the power of vocational skills to improve lives around the world.
‘Module A refrigeration installation’ also commenced, with competitors assembling refrigeration components to form a complete system. Competitors were provided a set of plans to follow and critically marked throughout – from pipe bending and brazing, through to pressure testing and commissioning.
Day two:
Supported by WorldSkills New Zealand Expert Neill Adkins, day two continued with ‘ Module A refrigeration installation’. Jack made great progress completing assembly of the components, brazing and pressure testing within the tight time frame.
Day three:
‘Module A refrigeration installation’ was completed on day three, along with electrical fault finding. “Jack did an awesome job getting the electrical completed and carrying out system evacuation while overcoming some issues with a faulty manifold/vac gauge that he was able to diagnose and remedy with the judges,” says William Lovell who was on the ground supporting Jack at the event. “Once the vacuum was complete, he managed to get the system charged with refrigerant and powered up. Along with the majority of the competitors, he ran out of time to finalise and complete the commissioning tasks within the right time frame allocated.”
Day four:
The final day of competing consisted of ‘Module D refrigeration fault finding and repair’ and ‘Module C fabrication’, which Jack performed well in.
“His skill and professionalism are a true testament to himself and has done an extraordinary job at representing New Zealand on the world stage,” says William.
Overall, Jack placed an impressive 9th out of the 26 competing countries and was awarded an excellence medallion for his efforts – an award for competitors who have demonstrated a high level of excellence within their skill. Jack was also awarded Best in Nation, awarded to the best performing competitor from each represented country.
There’s definitely a lot of a lot of young talent out there coming through that could potentially find themselves in a similar position to Jack Butler competing on a global scale – he certainly sets a good example and a good standard as well for people coming through.
- Trent McDonald, Wallie Askew Workskills judge.
