National skills competition 2016

Thijs Wolbers (on the left) and Ewoud Oskam (on the right) attended the European Insulation Apprentice Championship in Cologne on 10 and 11 May 2016, representing the Netherlands. They qualified themselves as the best insulation technician and best insulation sheet metal worker during the “Nationale Beroepenwedstrijd” (Dutch national skills competition) on 10 and 11 March 2016 in “Hét Huis van de Isolatie” (the house of insulation) in Woerden, the Netherlands. We have commissioned a great video impression of the two days of highly focused insulation work of six Dutch specialists.

Thijs Wolbers, Vinke Isotechniek Ewoud Oskam, Van der Linden & Veldhuis Isolatietechniek Thijs Wolbers works as an insulation technician at Vinke Isotechniek in Deventer. His colleague Ewoud Oskam and team mate in Cologne is an insulation sheet metal worker at Van der Linden & Veldhuis Isolatie B.V. in Sas van Gent.

Using various insulation materials such as rock wool, elastomer and hard foam, the participants constructed the perfect insulation system under time constraints. Ewoud Oskam and Thijs Wolbers kept their cool while facing challenging pipe runs, flanges, deviating angles and transitions between systems.

Thijs Wolbers performed well across the board. According to the jury, the “discipline” elastomer made the difference: “Let’s go to Cologne!”, Thijs Wolbers responded beaming. Ewoud Oskam added, “Surprisingly, it went well, but I didn’t expect to win the title”. He’s being too modest, because his complex sheet metal work beat the strong competition in points. Out of earshot, their employers Freico Vinke (Vinke Isotechniek) and Erik Warmink (Van der Linden & Veldhuis Isolatie B.V.) were at least as enthusiastic.