Industrial Mechanic Millwright Professor Craig Brazil recently returned from a trip to Kazan, Russia for the WorldSkills Kazan Competition Preparation Week (CPW) – a key milestone in the WorldSkills calendar.
Craig traveled to Kazan, which is about 1,000 kilometres northeast of Moscow, with 600 delegates from around the world. Here they work together and meet with competition sponsors and suppliers to assemble infrastructure lists, workshop layouts and skill management plans for the upcoming competition, which is set to take place in Kazan in August 2019. Craig, who is the Skills Competition Manager for the Industrial Mechanic Millwright competition, works on behalf of the WorldSkills Organization to help bring this competition to life.
“Having the main stakeholders of the competition in the same place for a number of days enables the Skill Management Teams to focus on finalizing details as we turn the ‘unknowns’ into ‘knowns,'” Craig says. “The goal of each WorldSkills Competition carries a dual focus of ensuring practical ‘must-haves’ while creating additional elements to add value to the event and keep it constantly evolving and improving.”
“Competitions at the district, regional, national and international levels help change people’s perceptions and increase awareness about skilled trades,” Craig adds. “High standards of competence contribute to economic success and personal fulfillment. The 600 people who gathered in Kazan are working together to make this happen.”
The WorldSkills Competition is a bi-annual event. This year’s 45th WorldSkills Competition is expected to be the biggest to date. Approximately 1,600 competitors with a variety of trade and vocational skills are expected to participate.
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