Christian Attewell, a robotics apprentice at Coventry-based Fanuc UK (www.fanuc.eu), has been shortlisted for the Apprentice of the Year (SME employer) award at the Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies Alliance (SEMTA) Skills Awards 2019.

He progressed through the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centre (AMTC) apprenticeship programme, joined Fanuc in 2016, and completed his apprenticeship in September 2018.

Christian’s nomination stems from the breadth and depth of his technical under-standing, and from proving himself many times in challenging circumstances.

For example, just a couple months into his time with Fanuc, he was sent to resolve a resourcing challenge for a customer in Ireland.

His knowledge and practical experience meant that there was no need to call upon the services of local sub-contractors, thereby saving much time and money on the project.

An example of Christian’s willingness to adapt to unexpected circumstances involved him being called upon to deliver a customer training course at short notice, when the original trainer fell ill.

The training team were so impressed that he was seconded to deliver the rest of the week’s courses, again avoiding the need to engage additional resources.

He now regularly delivers technical presentations to key customers.

Andy Armstrong, Fanuc UK sales and marketing manager, said: “Christian is a fantastic example of how the cross-collaboration between different industrial partners — in this case, the MTC and Fanuc — can produce exceptionally well-rounded engineers that will go on to shape the future of British manufacturing.

“His commitment, capability and competence have cemented his position as an incredibly valuable member of our robotics application engineering team. He is very much seen by his colleagues as an ‘engineer’ rather than an ‘apprentice’ – and that is the ultimate accolade.”