TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A Taiwanese craftsman was awarded a gold medal at the international WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition held in Bern, Switzerland.
Taiwan’s Lei Feng-yue (雷豐嶽) bested talented competitors from six other countries to take the top prize in the Prototype Modeling competition. The silver medal was awarded to Rio Mizutsuki from Japan, and the bronze went to Likithkumar Yemmedoddi Prakash from India. Other participants hailed from South Korea, Thailand, and Kazakhstan.
The 23-year-old Lei is currently a student at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology. His interest in Gundam and tank models led him to study industrial engineering and modeling prototypes of mechanical devices. This was his fourth time participating in a World Skills competition.
Upon hearing the news that he had won, Lei was moved to tears. UDN reports that both President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴淸德) conveyed messages of congratulations to the young engineer.
Prototype Modeling involves engineering a tool for a specific purpose and improving upon its design until it can serve its intended purpose. According to the WorldSkills website:
“The prototyping engineering technician will require a range of skills including 3D CAD systems, CAM systems such as milling, printing, and other CAM machining, vacuum casting, prototype model making by hand tools and machines, and spray painting and finishing.”
Lei’s impressive victory marked Taiwan’s first medal in this year’s WorldSkills competition. In total, Taiwan has selected 57 talented young people to represent Taiwan at the competitions, reports UDN.
The first portion of the WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition began on Sept. 7 in Bern, and concluded on Sept. 10. The only competition was the Prototype Modeling category. Competitions for additional skills categories will be held over the coming weeks in different participating countries.
The next stop will be in Stuttgart, Germany from Oct. 4 to Oct. 7.