Andreas Madsen dreams of becoming Denmark’s best process operator student at the national championship in Skills in Fredericia. Meet him here and learn a bit more about both process operators, the national championship in Skills and being an apprentice on Northern Europe’s largest construction site.
What is your subject?
– I work with the production of concrete for the tunnel on the Fehmarn connection. I sit in a control room with countless screens and control systems that tell how much material, for example, stone and gravel, we have in the various material silos. With the help of a computer, I dose the various materials, depending on how much concrete needs to be made.
– We have already finished over 100,000 cubic meters of concrete, just to produce the factory which will later produce concrete for the tunnel. It will consist of three large halls and six mixing plants. I have helped build three of the facilities in the last four months. It’s a very special opportunity I’ve been given, and it’s really fun to be a part of.
You’ve only completed high school, how did you get started on becoming a process operator?
– I always knew that I didn’t want to go to Copenhagen and study at university, so after high school, I worked to earn some money. By chance, I came into contact with the student manager at FLC, where I am now an apprentice. I was given a tour of the construction site where I was captivated by the project and thought I should be a part of it.
What is the best thing about your profession?
– It is a very versatile profession, which gives the opportunity to work in many industries. It’s wide and open, and that appeals to me. The fact that I have been allowed to help build the entire concrete plant from scratch has given me a great understanding of the profession, but also an impression that education is more than just control room work.
You were also at the national championship last year. Why are you running again?
– It was a good experience last year, and it also has something to say that my team only got second place. It could be fun to win this year. But I also choose to participate in Skills because I think it is an important way to highlight vocational training. I experienced during my primary school years that I was indirectly pressured to continue on the school bench. This, I believe, is a huge shortcoming – even if it may not have been deliberate on their part. Vocational training is not talked about much, at least not enough. And that, I think, is important.
How do you prepare for the national championship?
– I go to ZBC, so I have a long way home to Lolland, where I live. That’s why I live in a boarding school, and that gives me a lot of time to prepare. We are not that far into the program yet, so we have a lot to learn. It is a form of self-study, but we get some extra time to go in-depth with the facilities we will use in the competition.
What do your family and friends say about you going to the national championship?
– They find it exciting and support my participation. But people don’t always know what my education is about, or for that matter what Skills are. It’s a shame, but it says something about how important it is to emphasize vocational education so that more young people can see how many opportunities there are in these subjects.
What should the audience look forward to seeing at the process operator stand at the national championship?
– The audience can look forward to seeing some different installations. At first glance, they will seem large and unmanageable, but when they see the final product, it will be an eye-opener. At our stand at Skills, we have four different systems: a coffee roaster, a filter press, a sterile bench for aseptic filling and a plc-controlled conveyor belt.
What do you dream about?
– There are concrete plants all over the world, so the experience I’m getting now gives me good opportunities to travel around the world. Time will tell if it is something for me and where I am in my private life at that time, but in terms of education, it is great to have the opportunity.
In your words – How does your subject contribute to the green transition?
– It does this because we optimize the process all the time. This means that we optimize the facilities to be as sustainable as possible. It is a profession that is constantly evolving, so if you want to make a difference, there is also an opportunity for that.
