A FORMER Tavistock College student has won a regional competition run by engineering employers for his contribution to his firm during a gap year in industry.
After completing A-levels at Tavistock College last summer, Kelvin gained a place with the Year in Industry Scheme which puts 20
high-calibre students in high-tech companies in Devon and Cornwall to spend a gap year gaining valuable experience.
He spent his year with Kawasaki precision machinery in Plymouth, on a 'Barcode Solutions' project, which could have an annual potential cost-saving of £40,000.
His job included analysing work practices which found duplicated and time-consuming procedures within the company's stock control, work tracking and product labelling.
'I was responsible for producing a cost-effective barcode-based proposal and seeing it through to implementation, including liaison with Kawasaki and its suppliers,' he said.
After completing his gap year, Kelvin will take up a place at Loughborough University later this year to study for a Management Science degree. He said he hopes his year in industry will have given him lots of good experience for his degree course.
All the students on the Year in Industry scheme participated in the final exhibition in Plymouth last Thursday. Kelvin was one of three who won through to make presentations in the final event held before a panel of judges chaired by Malcolm Pemble of the
Engineering Employers' Federation.
Kelvin said delivering his ten-minute presentation in front of a judging panel and around 250 guests was a 'nerve-wracking' experience.
But he overcame stiff competition from the other two finalists to come away with the top prize of a cheque for £500 and a place in the nationals final to be held in London in September.
Guest speaker at the competition was Isabelle Berry, another former Tavistock College sixth-form student who is currently studying at Cardiff University. She was regional winner of the competition two years ago when she spent her gap year working at Wrigley's.