Young technician from Langley Mill going for gold in world skills Olympics

Liam Whitby will be taking on youngsters from seven other countries in the Industry 4.0 final in Stuttgart from Tuesday (4 October) to Thursday (6 October).

He will be teaming up with Kamil Zmich to take on the best technicians that Austria, Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, Poland and Switzerland has to offer.

The judges will be looking for competitors to design and implement systems which look at risks, such as cyber security.

Liam, who is 24, said: “I am so ecstatic to have made it to Team UK and that all the hard work has paid off.

“I always want to be the best I can and to push myself and competing in internationally is another opportunity for me to do just that.”

Industry 4.0 is a new competition that is making its debut at the multi-country international skills competition organised by WorldSkills.

The finals usually take place one city as part of a 10-day carnival of competition.

However, owing to the pandemic, this year’s event scheduled in Shanghai was cancelled.

In its place will be 61 finals featuring more than 1,000 competitors in 15 countries throughout October and November.

In total, 35 members of Team UK representing all four UK nations will be vying with peers from around the world to be crowned world’s best in their particular skill.

The UK will be looking to improve on a 12th place finish at the 2019 international event in Kazan, Russia and climb back in to the medal table top 10.

Nigel Mills, MP for Langley Mill, said all Liam’s hard work has paid off and wished him luck in the competition.

The MP said: “Congratulations to Liam Whitby of Langley Mill who's been selected to represent Team UK at the WorldSkills Competition 2022.

“Liam demonstrated world-class excellence and has dedicated himself to an intensive training programme for the past three years to compete.

“Good luck Liam!”