André Fonseca, one of our teachers, was in
Fundació Eduard Soler, in Ripoll (Spain), for a one-week job shadowing period
(11th to 15th April).
This is André Fonseca´s opinion on this experience…
“I had the opportunity to meet the school,
attending classes and participating in the realization of projects of students.
I also visited companies in the region and an institute that is also dedicated
to training and even had the opportunity to meet the technological centre
connected to the foundation. In the visit to the school I had the opportunity
to meet the physical spaces with special focus on technical training rooms of
the areas of technical design, mechanical and electrical / automation that are
the same as I work. I've also met with the school principal and the director of
marketing explained to me all the school run. During the week I attended
several classes of different materials such as CNC classes, Pneumatics and
programming APP's and software. Participation in these classes were important
to meet new training areas and different teaching methods. I also participated
in mechatronic projects that are practical lessons for the development of
projects by students, like our PAP's. I was able to know the type of projects
that perform as well as the technologies used and help in its realization. I
was also provided visits to two companies in the region and an institute. The
visit to the "Lacetània Institute" was made with a steering member of
the "Fundació Eduard Soler" working the same areas of training, with
the aim of sharing experiences and knowledge. The "Lacetània
Institute" is a school dedicated to training in the areas of Automotive
Mechanical, Industrial Maintenance, Automation and Robotics, Electricity and
Electronics and Telecommunications. I also visited the Tesem company that is a
world leader in the manufacture of metal luxury packaging. This company
specializes in the production of plastic and aluminium components for markets
such as perfumes and cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. I also visited the MATRIX
company dedicated to the manufacture of high precision moulds for plastic
injection machines. Finally, during this week of Job Shadowing I also met the
technological centre Foundation Eduard Soler with the production manager and
director of engineering. This centre is connected to the area of mechatronics
and is dedicated to the construction of prototypes and projects for companies
in the region. It offers companies a wide range of services ranging from the
creation, design, development and improvement of products and also
complementary services through innovation processes, technical support,
prototyping, casting, calculations, advanced computing, manufacturing,
installation and consulting innovation. This job shadowing period was a very
enriching experience because I had the opportunity to get to know a different
reality in vocational training and in the same areas that I teach in my school
that will allow me to improve my teaching activity. Moreover, as I am the director
of the Industrial Maintenance Technician Course, it was also important to get to know other forms of
organization and to learn with them in order to improve the functioning of the
course.”
