A team of Apprentices from SERC have lifted first place in the NI Intercollege Project Based Learning Exposition (PBLX) Competition, beating off entrants from five Further and Higher Education Colleges across Northern Ireland.
The Apprentice team, won for their Security Engineering & Resource Centre project in the Level 3 and above category. Pitching on the day and lifting the top title were Harry Johnston (20) from Newtownards, Specialised Fire Security, Zeki Kaya (20) from Newtownards, Specialised Fire Security Fernando Gomes Da Silva (25), from Magherafelt, Radio Contact, Corbin Wilson (20) from Donaghcloney, G4S, all Level 3 Apprenticeship NI in Fire and Security Systems. Missing from the final pitch due to work commitments, was fellow team member Lindsay Faulkner (22) from Bangor employed by BPS.
Another SERC team, Little Helpers, pitched by Lewis Nickell (27), Peter Church (45) and Ben Hartley (24), all from Bangor and all Restart Education students were runners-up in the Level 2 and under category at the Intercollege PBLX.
Robin Hamill, Fire & Security Lecturer at SERC said, “The Apprentices wowed the judges with their Security Engineering & Resource Centre project, an apprentice-led training facility designed to provide hands-on, industry-aligned learning in modern security technologies. Robin added, “This was the first year that the Fire & Security Apprentices had ever taken part in the in the PBLX competitions. We were thrilled to win the Intercampus title, but to lift the Intercollege title has been the icing on the cake for a very busy year for both the students and the lecturers involved in the Fire and Security programmes across SERC.
“We couldn’t have done it without the support of the apprentices’ employers and support from the industry. A special mention must go to Hikvision, and their generous donation of equipment, across all our sites, which means that our apprentices and those upskilling from the industry, will be trained on the very latest equipment, essentially making them work-ready for the industry.”
Slide show photos:
Lindsay Faulkner with Calvin Adams, Owner and Helen Brown, Senior Manager, BPS.
Corbin Wilson with Denis Spurling and John Carlile from G4S.
Zeki Kaya and Harry Johnson with Jordan Perry, Operations Manager and John Moore, Owner, Specialised Fire Security.
