Knowledge of New Technology a Must to Excel on World Stage: Ex-winner of India Skills Kerala

KOCHI:
Acclimatization with the state-of-the-art technology and the latest gizmos is vital to compete on the world stage with confidence, feels the national-level winner of India Skills Kerala 2016 competitions.
“I was baffled when I got new equipment, which I was not familiar with, to use in car painting section of the world skills competition. In such a highly competitive stage, we have to improve our skills and confidence with equipment of global standards,” said Shahad. S.M, who represented the country in Car Painting competition in the World Skills International Competition 2017 in Abu Dhabi.
Though he could not bag the first prize beating the 26 contestants, Shahad got Medallion of Excellence award and Sustainability Award in the competition in which China, UK and France got first, second and third prizes respectively.
“The technology they use is different from ours. The materials they use are not available here. To excel in such competitions, we have to introduce them to students,” said Shahad while visiting the venue of the grand finale of the ‘India Skills Kerala 2018’ at Marine Drive here on Monday.
He got the first position in the Regional Selection (South) for India Skills Competition 2016 held in Bengaluru, leading to his entry into the national-level competitions. Shahad had received training in London and Indonesia prior to his participation in the World Skills Competition. But there he faced problems due to his inexperience in handling top-notch technology.
Meanwhile, he had eclipsed eight participants in the national-level competitions. “After the national-level competitions, I got the opportunity for training at Maruti’s car plant in New Delhi for one-and-a-half-year.”
A native of Kuttichira in Kozhikode, the 22-year-old is currently working as a Master Technician in Popular Maruti’s painting section. After completing Plus Two, Shahad joined Popular Maruti to learn painting, and his stint there inspired him to compete in competitions. Realizing his potential, the car company gave him training, which paved the way for his participation in India Skills Kerala Competitions.
“I would like to train talented youngsters in this field and take them to competitions like this to enrich their capability,” he adds.
The three-day grand finale of India Skills Kerala 2018, which concludes on Monday, was jointly organised by Industrial Training Department and Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE), the nodal agency of the state government for its Skill Development Mission.