NVQ Milling Course Sharpening the Skills of SERC Apprentices

South Eastern Regional College (SERC) has added a CNC Milling element to the Level 2 NVQ Performing Engineering Operations provision, which is in line with the needs of local industry.

Speaking about the new course area, engineering lecturer Kelvin McGreeghan said; “We have added a CNC Milling element to our L2 NVQ Performing Engineering Operations provision.  The aim of the course is to give apprentices an opportunity to set and operate a CNC milling machine.”

He continued “We have designed our own modular vice consisting of 6 precision components, all of which are manufactured by the students.  A Project Based Learning aspect has been incorporated in the curriculum design, as they can customise the vice for different applications.” 

The college has 4 CNC Haas VF2 millings machines, which means that 4 apprentices can be trained at a time and each one will have their own machine. The course has been designed alongside local employer Magellan, an aerospace component manufacturer, with the intention of preparing their workforce to understand and operate safely and efficiently in the workplace. 

Jason Latimer of Magellan, said; “Magellan Aerospace has now moved on from having the need for apprentices to do any fitting, and we now only have CNC machines on the shop floor so that is why this course is perfect for us.

“We are still happy for the apprentices to do manual machine units which helps them understand the basics, but the CNC unit is really beneficial to help them learn about tooling, tool holders, datum’s, program prove outs and the machine controls, which they are able to apply to the day to day running of the CNC machines in our company.”   

SERC are hosting Have a Go Sessions for potential apprentices 4.30pm to 7.00pm at Lisburn Campus - Monday 6 February; Bangor Campus -Tuesday 7 February; Newtownards Campus - Wednesday 8 February, and Downpatrick Campus - Thursday 9 February.

Visit https://www.serc.ac.uk/NI-Apprenticeship-Week-2023 to unlock your future #BetterOffAtSERC.