Aico hosted an educational visit to its Centre of Excellence in January for students of Dudley College studying Performing Engineering Operations (PEO) Foundation Level 1.
Eleven students, aged 16-18, accompanied by two lecturers from the college, were given a tour around Aico’s newly extended Centre of Excellence at Aico’s premises in Oswestry, Shropshire, taking advantage of the fully equipped training room.
“As these students are not yet in the trade, the purpose of this visit and what they get out of it is the importance of smoke alarms and an exposure to the construction of smoke alarms,” comments David Daley, electrical lecturer, Dudley College.
“The visit also widens their electrical knowledge base and, as their careers progress they may even be installing Aico products. All the students have completed positive reports in their journals and have actually retained a lot of the information passed on to them.
“This is our second year visiting and we have been highly impressed with the professional manner which we have encountered. The facilities are excellent and with the new extension things just seem to be getting better. Myself and Ken Foster (electrical lecturer) are so impressed that we are trying to arrange for two visits per year using two different groups. We are looking forward to maintain this relationship for many years to come.”
The Centre of Excellence is a purpose built training, meeting and demonstration facility incorporating the latest audio visual facilities. The new extension, which doubles the size of the centre, includes a large training room that accommodates up to 20 people for hands-on training with a smoke chamber to watch the effect of live fires and view alarms in action. The Centre is also home to ‘Ember Place’, a furnished bungalow with suitable Aico alarms and accessories fitted to help educate visitors on common fire risks and promote correct alarm siting.
