Vaughan, Ontario — As a global partner with WorldSkills, SATA has proudly hosted the global WorldSkills experts and competitors—who will head to Lyon, France, for the international competition in September—for a week-long session at the company’s Vaughan, Ont., headquarters and training facilities. Collision Repair magazine has been on-site all week to catch up with these highly skilled individuals before they head off to the international stage.
On Wednesday, Pfaff Autoworks General Manager Jeff Pabst stopped by to offer his support and offer up a car for the competitors to test their skills on.
“It’s great for Pfaff Autoworks to be part of this WorldSkills competition, to help support this program, see it grow and watch the young talent compete. We’re really excited to see what the outcome is when they go to France. Go Canada!”
George Varagic, president of SATA Canada and SATA USA, was thrilled to see the students compete at the state-of-the-art SATA Canada training centre.
“We’re thankful to all of our team members who helped organize this—especially Joern [Stoever] and the operational team in Canada. Everyone is enjoying their stay in our facilities; we work very hard to provide the best possible environment to meet their greatest potential. We wish them all the best at the competition and look forward to seeing who the winner will be,” said Varagic.
Joern Stoever, global key account manager for SATA, clarified that this week’s training—while called a competition—is more of an exercise to ensure the competitors are prepared to paint under pressure.
“It’s definitely training, but because it’s also a competition, we will have awards for the top three places at the end of the week. There should always be something for the winner!”
Stoever added that the WorldSkills competitors will receive certificates and accompanying results from the week of training.
“They will see their results and receive points to understand what modules they may need to work on and learn from what they’ve done. They’ll take it step by step until September and train on their weaknesses—as well their strengths.”
Cecile Bukmeier, Canadian WorldSkills expert for this year’s Lyon, France, competition, said the final module—set to take place Thursday—will see the competitors take on a vehicle hood.
Bukmeier also clarified that the experts will meet after tomorrow’s events to tally up points and determine the winners.
“We’ll also be wrapping up with a barbecue. All [WorldSkills] sponsors that are available will be here, as well as the competitors and experts. It’ll be the finish of the competition—a well-deserved cheers and a nice dinner.”
Stay tuned to Collision Repair magazine to see which country takes the lead following SATA Canada’s training week.
