Welding and engineering students at Forth Valley College are burning with desire to have a go on the new specialist training equipment donated by Kemppi Welding recently.
The new equipment, worth several thousand pounds – will be sited in the fabrication and welding workshops at the new Falkirk Campus, which is set to open in early 2020.
World renowned Kemppi are looking to grow their partnership with FVC and to establish a ‘centre of excellence for welding’ as at the moment they do not have a base in Scotland to do this. The hope is that Falkirk will become a central point and a hub for Scotland’s employers and industry professionals to develop skills and promote best practice with the latest equipment.
Steven Vaill, Kemppi UK Ltd, Technical Sales Engineer for Scotland/Ireland said: “Establishing this centre for excellence for welding in the new campus will make this equipment and knowledge more accessible to employers and apprentices across Scotland. Kemppi had an open day down in England and no one in Scotland was able to attend, so hopefully this will enable more of them to get involved. The new equipment also allows apprentices to train on state-of-the-art machines that will better equip them for work later on.”
Dougie Ross, Curriculum Manager in FVC’s Department of Engineering and Science, said: “I would like to thank Kemppi for donating this new welding equipment. I’m really excited to grow this partnership and make it even stronger in the future. It is already benefiting our students and it will give them a great insight into what to expect when they progress in their careers.”
Gordon Berry, FVC’s Estates Development Manager, who was instrumental in introducing Steven Vaill to the college, said: “The prospect of having this new centre for excellence is fantastic opportunity to add further value to the new state of art welding and fabrication facility. We’ll be able to invite company representatives from all across Scotland to our new campus and really involve employers, employees and apprentices from this sector of the industry and showcase our partnership with Kemppi welding equipment.”