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Review
West Bromich 2 Day Training Event - 3rd & 4th October 2007
The West Midlands was the location of our first two-day road show training event presented by the Castings Skills Centre. This gave local casting related companies, Cti & ICME members the opportunity to savour the new “Casting Processes & Techniques” course or participate in the “Casting Design & improving quality standards” course presented by Steve France & Mike Harper.
This is the first time such a training event has been staged in recent years, and the support was very encouraging. Steve France & Mike Harper gave a colourful and spectacular presentation over a two-day period, passing on a wealth of information and experience.
Based on this success, a program of similar events has been organised to take part throughout the UK, starting on February 27th/28th at Crawley, West Sussex. |
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Day one provided an overview of casting processes, prototype techniques and modern RP methodology and had something for all experience levels. The audience was captivated by the presentation for 8 hours, and still some stayed behind for further discussions... The key to providing an interesting presentation is not just the quality of the images, videos, visual aids and training books, but in the delivery. Steve & Mike both activly encourage audience feedback and partisipation but also question each other, creating a unique double act which is both informative and humourous.
Day two provided individuals with the knowledge of Casting Design, covering basic principles, the building blocks of good casting design and how to improve product quality and to recognise casting defects. This course was slightly different to day one as it was more pro-active - everyone was encouraged to suggest design solutions, modify drawings and identify mass concentrations. The casting defects quiz at the end split the audience into 3 teams and had to identify defects from physical castings, pictures and X-rays. Despite the teams comprising of unknown individuals, the level of competitivness never fails to surprise and amuse.
As well as the full days training program, there were exhibits from ICME, Casting Skills Centre, Titanium Castings UK and The advanced Manufacturing Park. These were manned during the break periods and lunch, which created some interest. But it was decided that future events would not include this exhibition as the effort of staging it was too much...
   
Delegates were sent from the following companies:
Serck Aviation
Russell Ductile Castings
Inductotherm
ICME
Dana
Hendrickson Europe Ltd
Kohler Mira Ltd
Blackwood Engineering
Rotork Gears
Sheffield Forgemasters
Bradken
Joy Mining
Dunlop Equipment
Doncasters SVC
Gilbert, Gilkes & Gordon
“Well presented, light hearted, good pace, excellent materials, slideshow and video…”
“It was both Amusing and Interesting”
“Very good Presentation style”
“Pleasant & enjoyable presentation, a very interesting course”
“Spot on”
“I particularly liked the video clips of real life processes”
“I liked the in-depth information on many Casting processes & the knowledgeable lectures”
“Professionally administered – very good”
“The course was informative but with scope for problem solving & information”
“Very good combination of Steve (presentative) and Mike (Informative)”
“Very good relaxing course with good content for both beginner & intermediate”
“Informative without being too intense, but yet interesting enough to keep you awake for 8 hours – a fine line to achieve… Well done”
“Good delivery, style & pace”
“Presented well & kept interesting”
“It covered a wide amount of information, not getting too in-depth. Tuition was kept lively”
“Very good delivery”
“Great Enthusiasm”
“Very informative, with good graphics”
“What I liked most was the interaction with the audience & real life examples”
“Good delivery, spread of topics and humour to keep the interest”
“Was the same as the first day – Excellent!”
“The part about identifying junctions and wall sections was particularly useful”
“A very effective double act that delivers a mound of information in a professional manner”
“Found the lecture/actual interaction on rules of casting design to be extremely useful”
“What I liked most was the presentation & interactive style of the course”
“Kept you interested and involved”
“Aimed (In my opinion) at the right level of experience”
“ I preferred the defect analysis”
“”Really informative – with real defect examples”
“Excellent, enjoyable and educational”
“Presentation was enjoyable”
“Well presented and humorous”
“”Very good and informative”
“The best for me was the interaction and general content”
“Interactive test gave a lot of interest and focused you on the course”
“I liked best the presentation of Steve & Mike”
“Content was very good”
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