Ifsec according to an apprentice....

The day at IFSEC started off with a long train journey from London Euston to Birmingham. Throughout the commute there was a build up of intensity and anxiety as we were just waiting to get stuck in at the competition. As we arrived at IFSEC we were overwhelmed by the amount of people were there, handing out business cards. This year at IFSEC we were taking part in an annual competition called Engineers of Tomorrow to win £1,000. The basic idea of the competition was to test the knowledge learnt throughout our apprenticeship. With only a hour and a half we had to do a full takeover of an intruder panel, which included fault finding and installing a new bell and vibration detector. We started off slowly, which in hindsight was probably a bad idea, as it eventually led us to losing the competition. After our initial slow start, we picked up the pace by completing various tasks such as; mounting a vibration detector, wiring a sounder and linking a P.A key switch to a door contact. With minutes left in the competition we were advised to wire the dual com to the panel as fast as possible. The competition ended with the adjudicator saying time, just as the final cable went in….. After the competition ended we had roughly 3 ½ hours to wait until we found out the results. Whilst patiently waiting to find out the results we felt the full impact of IFSEC and the technology. 4 o’clock came around and it was time to figure out if we had won or NOT. Unfortunately we didn’t bring home the win, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves, taking in a vast amount of knowledge throughout the day. Overall, it was a good chance to see what future technology has to offer and I look forward to next year.