SIEMENS APPRENTICE CONTINUES A FINE HERITAGE
31/10/2012 Siemens Industry Automation & Drive Technologies
Apprentice Richard Birkbeck has just graduated as a mechanical engineer at one of the UK's leading engineering companies, Siemens Mechanical Drives in Leeds.The 23-year-old recently completed a four-year Siemens apprenticeship with an HNC in Mechanical Engineering at Bradford College, one of the local colleges Siemens Mechanical Drives sends its apprentice engineers to.
Richard was awarded distinctions in a number of units, including CAD (computer aided design), CNC (computer numerical control of machine tools) and CAM (computer aided manufacturing), as well as his engineering project. He has now started studying for an HND in Mechanical Engineering, which he should complete by June 2014.
Richard would like to go into the projects and design aspects of mechanical engineering and said his apprenticeship had been a great experience: "Although Siemens is a very large organisation, we work in small groups on the factory floor, and the skills benefits have been amazing. There are several graduate apprentices here, going back quite a few years, and I've learned a lot from them. It's a great company to work for."
Siemens Mechanical Drives is part of Siemens Industry, and a significant UK manufacturing division of Siemens, operating in energy and renewables, transport, heavy industry and control systems. Its state-of-the-art Leeds factory was officially opened late last year by Leeds MP Hilary Benn.
The Leeds site employs three engineering apprentices and three young graduate apprentices, along with the newest apprentice, Matthew Jackson, who joined the team in September as part of a 160-strong national apprentice recruitment drive by Siemens in the UK. Siemens Mechanical Drives has always been committed to apprenticeships; five of its longstanding team also came through the apprenticeship route, including production and quality manager Richard Durham, production fitter Chris Myers, order processor Dave Pratt, team leader (engineered solutions and service) Dave Colleran and sales manager Alex Broadley.
For more information on Siemens visit www.siemens.co.uk/drives or call 0113 385 2500.
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