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Student propelled into
wind turbine industry
FASHION
profiles
WITH AN INTEREST IN ELECTRICAL
ENGINEERING, ADELE BAIRD FROM
AUCHINLECK HAD HER HEART SET ON
AYRSHIRE COLLEGE’S WIND TURBINE
TECHNICIAN COURSE.
The course was developed to train the industry’s
future maintenance workforce in response to the
growing number of wind turbines in Ayrshire.
Adele was the first female student on the course
at Ayr Campus in 2014/15, with three other
women following in her footsteps. Upon successful but it’s the electrical qualifications that I gained at
Ayrshire College that got me this job – without a
completion of the course last year, Adele quickly
doubt.
secured employment with a leading wind turbine
company.
“Now I get to work all over the place. Wherever
they put a new turbine up, they will send me out
Adele is now an electrical commissioning
technician - which involves installing the electrical there to get the wiring complete and ensure it’s up
and running.”
wiring inside the turbine and setting up the
software. She has been undergoing training in her
Adele said “I’m driven by the job that I’m
new job across the UK and Germany.
interested in, so being a female in a maleShe said “I was in the army before and had a bit of dominated industry doesn’t faze me at all. I say just
experience working on radars and things like that, crack on and do what you want to do regardless.”
19 year old Niomi Halliday from
Auchinleck started a three year course in
Visual Merchandising and Branding in the
London College of Fashion in September
2015, after completing her HND Fashion
with Ayrshire College at the Ayr Campus.
Moving away from home can be a daunting task
for anyone, and moving to London would be for
most people. For Niomi though, it was an ideal
opportunity to progress down the career path
she’s decided on.
Niomi said “I don’t think I would have ever
thought about going to L