This was not the first time the OTTC invited Gold Medal Winners of Refrigeration Competitions. The first time it was the Gold Medal Winner from the International Skills Competition 2001 in Seoul, Nicolas Reinhard, and when he visited the OTTC, he attended The AM1 and AM2 Ammonia Course. The second time the OTTC extended their invite was to the Gold Medal Winner, Ralph Beelen and Peter van Rooij from the Netherlands, at the AREA (Euro Skills) Competition, held at the IKK in 2004. They were accompanied by Jan Reiijmers Member of AREA.The third time the invitation was handed out, the winner of the German Refrigeration Competition, Martin Baumeister, and the Euro Skills 2008 Gold Medal Winner, Mr. Remco ten Berge from Netherlands visited the OTTC.

Second Prize: Mr. Christopher Carlsen

This time Mr. Martin Baumeister was accompanied by Mr. Karsten Beermann, the CEO of the IKKE (Informationzentrum fur Kälte, Klima-und Energietechnik in Duisburg). Mr. Remco ten Berge was accompanied by Hans van Ar, the CEO of NVKL Scholing in de koudetechniek en luchtbehandeling and a technical expert of the International World Skills Competition, who are both Members of AREA

On 8 April 2009, at the Open Trade Training Centre in Springs, Gauteng the International Competition between the two Gold Medal Winners and the OTTC Students began. Isolde Döbelin wanted to see if the training at the OTTC would be in line with the Euro Standards while at the same time the OTTC students would gain experience as to the way of euro speed and installation techniques. In short the purpose was for the "interchanging information", to see "what can be learnt from each other and learn from each other’s standards of practice" says Isolde Döbelin. The Competition was designed by Norbert Ludwig and Istvan Nyul from the OTTC and is based on and according to the German Apprentice Test.

An Investment was needed for 8 Workstations and this was made possible by the big sponsorship of condensing units by Danfoss and one evaporator from HC.

Second Prize: Mr. Martin Baumeister

To make this Competition fair, two outside Judges, Mr. Paul Hansen from Cubicool and Ernst Bezuidenhout from Eurocool, accepted the nomination. The OTTC thanked all these instrumental role players in all they have done for the academy. Bob and Vannessa Vuletic made this occasion another celebration by sponsoring the catering Spitbraai and Draft Beer. Isolde Döbelin gave a hearty "Thank You" to all the students and everybody who was involved in making the OTTC International Competition a success. What follows is an explanation of the International skills competition held at the OTTC.

1. Theoretical Examination

At first, the competitors had to provide evidence of their expert knowledge. As a refrigeration technician is not only a trained person on certain practical tasks, not knowing the background of what he performs in the field, the candidates had to answer 180 multiple choice questions, broken down to 45 sections with 4 questions each.

Third Prize: Mr. Benjamin Millne

Out of various matters of expert knowledge in refrigeration and air conditioning, proof of understanding was required in matters as basic thermodynamics, the refrigeration cycle, safeties, safe handling of refrigerant, electric and fault finding. The candidates were given 45 minutes to answer all those questions correctly to achieve 30% of the total competition’s marks.

2. The Plant

Intention of this competition’s practical part was not just to assess some candidates on a few tasks. As in the field, the demand on a musician is to play the piano instead of just knowing a few keys, the demand on a technician is also to be familiar with everything in his field, particularly detailed problem solving during installation and commissioning. He has to build a plant that matches safety regulations, can be operated economically, matches good artisan’s standards and at least satisfies the client to achieve the remaining 70% of the competition’s marks.

Mr. Nico Barkhuizen the National World Skills Champion

Close to these requirements of the field, the participants got schematic diagrams (as seen in figure 1 and figure 2), the material as well as the tools and 8 hours of time. The plant, an imaginary freezer room with hot gas defrost and an electronic controller, has a cooling capacity of 1.4kW and had to be fitted onto an area of about 1m², including the freezer room and the plant room. As in the field, participants had to solve mechanical details themselves. ◊

figure 1

figure 2