Transition year is a time when students are considering the options available to them in the future. We feel it is important that students get information about the correct subjects to take for the leaving certificate, particularly if their intention is to take up an E&I Apprenticeship. Our Site Manager, Paul Walsh decided the best way to do this was to arrange a site visit so he invited the Transition Year students from Colaiste An Chroi Naofa in Cork to an event on site in Pfizer Little Island Loughmahon.
The day began with the issue of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) by Paul and day passes from Pfizer at security; safety first! Once everyone was kitted out they were brought to our onsite O’Sheas Electrical Instrument Calibration workshop where the Lead Technician onsite, Billy O’Brien gave the students a demonstration on how the instruments work. They learned about; actuated valves, pressure gauges, temperature transmitters, proximity switches, barriers and 24Vac/dc works. The students worked on these instruments asking insightful questions and taking everything in. Next up was a quick quiz with spot prizes awarded based on their observations of the demos.
In Pfizer’s main production building Paul showed everything from the workshop operating in a live environment. The students saw this through the Operator Interface Terminals in the plant. The last stop was Pfizer security and on to the Jones Engineering CompEx Training Workshop where Don Goulding the Chargehand on site, gave the students a demo on glanding / terminating cables to EX equipment. The day ended with a Q&A and each student was provided with a promotional pack, featuring information booklets.
We would like to thank everyone in Pfizer for making this site available to us and in particular the Security team. We would also like to thank Madeleine Herne, Transition Year Teacher for her help in bringing the students to the site. The students showed great interest in all demonstrations and were a credit to their school. We wish them all the best in their future careers!
See Jones Engineering website for full article.