A Wirral Met College apprentice has been recognised with a prestigious engineering award.
Niall Williams, an engineering apprentice with Wirral Met, was presented with an Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) award for positive impact at a ceremony held on Thursday 23 January.
Niall is currently studying a Level 3 Advanced Level Apprenticeship in Engineering Manufacture – Fabrication and Welding with employer Met Arc Limited in Liverpool.
Met Arc Limited specialises in design, fabrication and fitting of metal ventilation ducting. Throughout the COVID pandemic, the company had contracts with a number of hospitals including Durham, Alder Hey, the new Liverpool Royal, Arrow Park and Clatterbridge.
As a key worker, Niall was called upon to go the extra mile and worked long hours on multiple sites across the country, in difficult conditions in order to introduce new systems and to help maintain crucial NHS services during these unprecedented and testing times.
Niall has continued to develop himself professionally, making alternative arrangements with staff to ensure he attended extra sessions including evening classes, so as he was able to continue working towards completion of essential study programme course work and practical assessments.
Whilst at college, Niall has often acted as a peer-tutor and has helped others in his classes, as they have benefitted from Niall’s excellent understanding of sheet metal working, and one day aspires to own and run his own sheet metalwork and fabrication company.
Niall said “I’d like to thank the college for all the time, help, and commitment that they’ve given me over the years to achieve this award with the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. They’ve been instrumental to my learning and my progress over the years and to gain this award.”
“I’d like to thank all of the tutoring teams, the engineering department for helping me to achieve this award and progress in the engineering sector and through my career.”
Ron Faulkner, Professional Development Consultant at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said “The Institution of Mechanical Engineers looks after the interest of some 120,000 professional engineers globally.
“One of our main activities is to ensure that young students entering into engineering are supported and one of the ways we do this is by working with further education colleges, ensuring that we recognise high performing apprentices, give them the encouragement to stay in engineering, follow an engineering career and develop themselves.”
Principal Sue Higginson said "We are incredibly proud of our Apprentice of the year, Niall, and appreciate the partnership work we have with IMechE. At Wirral Met, students follow their career aspirations and this accolade will equip Niall with an ability to stand out from the crowd as he continues to build a successful future in engineering."
For more information about our apprenticeships visit https://www.wmc.ac.uk/apprenticeships