QinetiQ apprentices 'Pass the Torch' for National Apprenticeship Week
The torch has so far visited a business breakfast at University Technical Colleges Swindon and today it stopped at a business breakfast in Salisbury.
The Skills Funding Agency tasked QinetiQ apprentices with creating the torch for its ‘Pass the Torch’ campaign, to symbolise the way in which apprenticeships transfer knowledge.
Dan Jones, a second year mechanical aeronautical apprentice at QinetiQ, explained the thinking behind the resulting design and the teamwork that went into creating it: “At first we split into teams and sketched out 20 ideas, from simple tube shapes to one that looked like Sauron’s tower in Lord of the Rings. We narrowed those down to six and then combined some of the best elements to create the final design, which DSTL apprentice Chris Smith modelled using CAD.
“The torch features a cone shape surrounded by a spiral, representing the expansion of knowledge. A bright LED projects light through a lens from the top, symbolising enlightenment from learning, while flickering red and orange LEDs represent the fire and spark in the apprentices.
“The body is made of brass, aluminium and carbon fibre, showing the progression of materials through the years. This makes use of all the different apprentices’ skills, such as machining metals, cutting carbon fibre, CAD design and electronics.”
The Pass the Torch tour showcases how apprenticeships help businesses to grow their own talent and develop a motivated, skilled and qualified workforce. It is one of a number of events expected to take place across England to mark the eighth annual National Apprenticeship Week (9-13 March 2015). The torch also demonstrates pledges by employers to recruit apprentices in the future.
Paul Lucken, Deputy Director Employer & Delivery Services for Thames Valley, Skills Funding Agency, said: “Apprenticeships are at the heart of the Government’s drive to equip people with the skills employers need to grow and compete. Nearly every employer that takes on an apprentice reports benefits to their business from improved productivity, products or services, the introduction of new ideas to the organisation, improved staff morale and better staff retention.”
Following the Salisbury business breakfast, the torch will attend a series of competitions being held by five colleges in the West of England as part of World Plumbing Day on the 11th March. Wiltshire College, Swindon College, Gloucestershire College, City of Bristol College and South Gloucestershire & Stroud College are opening their doors to local employers so they can see future apprentices at work and learn how apprenticeships can bring benefits to businesses.
