RACA Journal June 2019 | Page 29

Events and Exhibitions Thermocold AND THE WINNERS ARE… Congratulations to the winner in the refrigeration category – David La Grange, an apprentice at Airvent Airconditioning and Ventilation in Cape Town. Second place went to Jorge Valente of OTTC (Springs) with the bronze medal being awarded to the College of Cape Town’s Pieter Roets. La Grange will receive further training before making his way to Kazan, Russia for the global WorldSkills competition taking pace from 22–27 August 2019. He is very excited about this opportunity, particularly for improving his skills, he says. The top three competitors received a testo 770-3 as a prize, which was presented to them by Torsten Harms of testo. This instrument is a true Root-Mean-Squared (RMS) electrical clamp meter capable of measuring, amongst other things, inrush current, wattage, power factor, capacitance and voltage. Various other industry sponsors got together to ensure the contestants had all the equipment and tools they needed to get the job done. One of the drawings the contestants were given to work off. Watch this space! www.hvacronline.co.za RACA The six refrigeration contestants in red with Palesa Rakometsi (DHET deputy director career management) at the back and Trueman Myeza (WSSA technical expert for the refrigeration category), kneeling. In South Africa, the WorldSkills South Africa (WSSA) initiative is championed by the DHET. Even though South Africa has participated in World Skills International (WSI) events since 1990, WSSA was formally established in April 2013 by the Deputy Minister of the DHET. Every two years, tens of thousands of skilled young people from around the world, accompanied by their teachers, coaches and mentors, gather in a selected city to compete before the public in the skills of their various trades and to test themselves against demanding international standards. This year, it’s time to compete in Kazan, Russia! This 45th WorldSkills competition will bring together more than 1 300 young professionals (under the age of 22) representing more than 70 countries, who will compete in more than 50 skills. The event will be held at the Kazan Expo International Exhibition Centre where more than 1 000 experts will evaluate the competitors’ work. ABOUT WORLDSKILLS Jorge Valente of OTTC (silver medal winner) working on his water harvester project. RACA Journal I June 2019 27