The WorldSkills Championship in Industrial Design took place at the international construction and interior exhibition BATIMAT RUSSIA 2018 in spring at the Crocus Expo. Contestants from Russia, South Korea, China and Japan entered the competition for the title of the best industrial designer.
The contestants for three days created models of industrial products with attractive appearance, convenient and durable in operation. In Russia, competitions in the competence "Industrial Design", initiated by the domestic professional community, are held at the level of national championships from 2016.
The BATIMAT RUSSIA 2018 exhibition also became a training place for WorldSkills Russia national team in competences "Brickwork" and "Tiling". Future participants of the European championship EuroSkills 2018 practiced their proficiency, performing tasks of world level.
In addition, BATIMAT RUSSIA 2018 hosted the first industry plumbing championship — Plumbing Star Russia 2018 with participants from Russia and Belarus. The winner became a coach of the Russian national team for the competence "Sanitary Engineering and Heating" and will represent the country in international WorldSkills championships. The GROHE company was a sponsor of the competition "Design of Mixer Taps for Bathroom and Kitchen". Experts carefully observed the proper performance of the technical assignment and incredible transformation of a pencil sketch into an accomplished 3D model. All the contestants were evaluated according to the WorldSkills International Scoring System.
Mr. Jonas Brennwald, Vice-President of GROHE, praised the competition of young professionals. "WorldSkills was a discovery for me. I haven’t seen anything like this at other exhibitions. It’s important to give these young guys and girls space for the future, because they are the future!", the partner of the exhibition said.
The WorldSkills International (WSI) movement dates back to the post-war years in Spain (1947), when the world was sorely lacking skilled labor. The first championships were held in order to popularize the working professions and enhance their prestige. Today, it is an effective tool for training personnel in accordance with world standards and the needs of new high-tech industries. Now, over half a century 79 countries have joined WorldSkills. Russia did it in 2012. Over the past five years, about 500 regional, corporate, university and national championships were held with more than 100 000 participants. Once every two years, one of the 79 countries participating in the movement hosts world professional championship. In 2019, it will be held in Russia (WorldSkills Kazan 2019).
The WorldSkills Championship is held with personal support of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The head of state noted that "WorldSkills is one of the most important tools for enhancing prestige of the working professions, it sets high standards for profile education, provides excellent opportunities for creative and friendly communication, raises rating of working professions among young people. At the competition, young professionals demonstrate their skills and creativity in a variety of competencies. And their mentors, experts, heads of technical vocational schools and colleges are actively discussing issues related to the situation in labor market, revival of vocational guidance in schools, introduction of modern educational technologies in training of skilled workforce. All this is of great importance for the further development of the economy, primarily the high-tech industries".
BATIMAT RUSSIA 2019 will be held on March 12—15 at the Crocus Expo where leading manufacturers and distributors of construction and finishing materials, together with the best Russian and foreign designers and architects, will present the novelties and premier collections of the new season. In 2019, a special zone for industrial and object design will be organized for the first time.