EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
2017 WorldSkills international
competition raises the bar
By Ilana Koegelenberg
The 2017 WorldSkills competition took place from 15 to 18 October 2017, and 22 South
African competitors headed out to Abu Dhabi to compete against the best of the best,
including the refrigerant and air-conditioning candidate, Tyrone Bunce.
B
unce (of Standard Refrigeration
in KwaZulu-Natal) had been
training hard for this international
competition since winning the national
skills competition earlier in 2017. Under
the watchful eye of Bob Vuletic of
Multistage Cooling, who accompanied
the team as official skills expert in the
refrigeration and air-conditioning
category, they set off on what was
Bunce’s first international trip in mid-
October.
A total of 1 300 young people from
59 WorldSkills member countries and
regions showcased their talent across 51
skills competitions, between 15 and 18
October. This was the first time that the
WorldSkills competition had been held in
the Middle East and North Africa regions.
WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 was the
largest WorldSkills competition to date,
attracting more than 125 000 visitors. and recommission the system in the
given time.
There was also an air-conditioning
section and an electrical side where
he was required to rewire the electrical
board for the project from a drawing.
THE PROJECT In the refrigeration and air-conditioning
category, there were 23 competitors
from around the world. The competition
was extremely tight with only a few points
separating competitors. Bunce finished
21st with a total score of 656 (the winner
scored 739).
There were various facets to the
competition. Bunce had to build a
refrigeration project that did heat
recovery on the one side while freezing
water on the other. He also had to do
fault finding and repair, reclaim the gas,
THE RESULTS
Gold in HVAC&R went to Korea. There
was no silver medal this year as Russia and
China tied for bronze.
Overall, the top three skills countries were:
1. China (109 points)
2. Korea (88 points)
3. Switzerland (81 points)
South Africa failed to bring home any
medals and tied for last place with a few
other countries. In terms of total points
scored, we finished 30th out of the 57
countries.
The next WorldSkills competition will
take place in 2019 in Kazan, Russia. CLA
The Refrigeration and Air Conditioning competitors and skills experts from across the world at WorldSkills 2017.
Tyrone Bunce (left) and skills expert Bob
Vuletic take a selfie in Abu Dhabi.
Tyrone Bunce hard at work during
the international competition.
Tyrone Bunce’s completed
WorldSkills project in Abu Dhabi.
During the official send off, from left: André Vermeulen (technical
delegate WSSA); Tyrone Bunce (refrigeration and air-conditioning
national competitor); and Bob Vuletic (skills expert).
COLD LINK AFRICA • January | February 2018
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
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