I've spent the last two weeks in Shanghai with Team UK, competing at WorldSkills 2026 in Additive Manufacturing. And after two years of training, travelling, designing, printing, testing; and four days of competition, a closing ceremony and a rather long flight home, I can finally say that I came away with a Bronze medal in Additive Manufacturing as one of the top three in the world!
This journey has been quite a long one, starting back in 2024 when I was doing my T Level at Bath College.
At the time, I'd never even heard of WorldSkills, but Eric, one of my lecturers, entered me into the national competition for additive knowing about my interest in 3D printing. I had no idea where it would lead, but after getting through the nationals, squad selection and eventually being selected for Team UK, it became a much bigger part of my life than I ever expected
The last two years have been a gradual build up of hundreds of smaller things, every training session, design problem, competition task and mistake adding something to the next one. There wasn't really one moment where everything suddenly came together, it was more a case of continually learning and improving until eventually I was standing in Shanghai ready to compete
The Additive Manufacturing skill competition area
The competition itself was based around an assembly for a robot arm end effector used to manipulate sheet metal parts, with the modules focused on a corner of the overall design incorporating the existing arrangement of three carbon tubes
Across the four days, we designed a range of components around this assembly, including a topology optimised central part which clamped onto the three carbon rods, as well as quick release attachments for sensors and actuators
Most of the modules were generally about designing and producing a creative solution to the given problems, alongside scanning and inspection of our printed parts with a FreeScan UE. We used both FFF/FDM and DLP throughout the competition to prototype, test and manufacture our ideas, as well as designing an SLM part which was produced for us by DMG MORI
Modules A and B worked together to create the first part, a cam pipe lock and handle. Given a carbon tube we had to clamp with a quick release mechanism, and an existing mount, we had to design the head and handle that could be joined as one. For Module A when designing the cam head, considerations that it was to be SLM printed had to be kept in mind. Ensuring adequate thickness and material for cooling, whilst not blocking any critical surfaces with support as we were unable to post process it. When designing the handle for Module B, it was to be FFF printed ensuring in the design phase that it had a flat feature to sit on the bed and required no support whilst maintaining ergonomics.
Module C was where we started to design to the existing part, starting off by scanning the arranged carbon rods, and then designing a weight optimised hub that clamps onto each of the three in an assemble-able manner. Throughout the entire test project, the main focus points were on minimising weight, parts, and supports. We then later built upon this design in Module E where we had to incorporate the earlier designed cam lock handles, as well as add a new assembly that mounted off two carbon rods. This new assembly had to adjust in X and Y with adequate strength, produced on the DLP.
Module D was to consolidate the earlier cam head and handle, and adjust the design as necessary and print three copies either using DLP or FFF - I had accidentally redesigned the new DLP ready handle backwards to the clamping section of the head, however this fortunately still worked.
Module F involved an inspection scan using a Shining3D handheld scanner to validate our own printed parts and ensure they were within tolerance to our designs.
Module G was then the final assembly of our work over the four days, and what everything had built up to.
The combination of different processes meant that the competition wasn't simply about designing something that looked good in CAD, the designs had to actually work, be manufacturable using the available processes, and meet the requirements of each module within the time available
A sample of test components
There fortunately wasn't any one major thing that went wrong during the competition, which I'm quite happy about, although I did manage to give one part the wrong tolerances
On the final assembly task I had designed a clamp with tolerances I would normally expect from FFF, but the DLP print came out much more accurately than that, meaning the clamp wouldn't close far enough onto the carbon rod
So, with about 20 minutes left of the competition, I was filing away material underneath the clamp trying to get it to close properly, fortunately I realised the sandpaper provided had a coarser grit allowing faster removal
That was probably one of the more memorable moments of the final day when it worked with seconds to spare, especially knowing that there was no opportunity to reprint the part and I just had to make the one I had work
By the end of the four days I was really happy with how everything had gone. I had managed to work through each module, solve the problems I was given and finish the competition knowing that I had put everything I could into it
Once the competition had finished, I had no idea exactly where I had placed, but I had heard enough from the other competitors throughout the week to have some idea of how everyone had found the different modules
That evening I spent about an hour and a half trying to work out where I might have placed. I ended up making a rough score matrix of competitor and module, then doing a bit of maths to try and account for the bias I had when assigning values to my own performance compared to what I expected other competitors had achieved
It was certainly not a perfect calculation, but it gave me a reasonable idea of the range I was probably somewhere within and was a good way to wind down after the high focus over the previous few days
Going to Shanghai, my goal had been to come home with a Medal or Medallion, but I was hoping I might make the podium
Then came the closing ceremony
A few minutes before the results were announced on stage for the skill, the volunteers started bringing the winning competitors down towards the stage, and that was when I realised I was going to be on the podium
I sent a message out to family and friends telling them to keep an eye on the screen, although one person I messaged had completely forgotten the ceremony was happening and was apparently just about to have a nap after doing some cleaning
Once I got down towards the stage I saw Alexis and Nobutada, and we all had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen, so we congratulated each other and waited together for the results to be announced
As we were heading onto the stage, Nobutada suggested that we should all wait until the full podium had been announced before jumping onto it together, which we ended up doing and made for a memorable moment, even if my phone did fly out my pocket
After four days of competing against each other, it was a pretty nice way to finish the competition, and I think it showed how much respect we had for each other's performance
Alexis Aubert from France took Gold, Nobutada Miyado from Japan took Silver, and I came away with Bronze for the United Kingdom
Congratulations to both of them, it was a privilege to share the podium with them after four days of competition
I had seen the amount of work Alexis had put into his preparation from two joint training sessions, so it was really good to see that work pay off. Nobutada also put in an incredible performance throughout the competition, and standing on the podium together was a great way to finish the week
The result itself still feels a little strange to write down, especially after spending so long thinking about the competition as something that was still coming up rather than something that had already happened
Left: WS26 Champion badge, Middle: WS26 Bronze Medal, Right: TeamUK Enamel Pin
Getting to Shanghai wasn't something I did on my own, and there are a lot of people who deserve a thank you
A huge thank you to Eric for pushing me to enter the nationals in the first place, and for continuing to support me and take an interest in what I've been doing throughout the whole process. Without that first push in 2024, I wouldn't have even known WorldSkills existed
I also want to thank Bryn and Oscar for everything they've put into the training over the last two years, with Bryn organising and leading the huge amount of training and preparation that got me to Shanghai, and Oscar supporting throughout as well. There has been a lot of work going on behind the scenes to get me to this point, and having that support throughout has made a massive difference
I'm also really grateful to my employer BIMTek for being so supportive of the time I've spent away from work during training and the competition, as well as helping out with some of the areas I needed extra support in
At one point my manager arranged for me to spend some time with a colleague who had more experience with one of the software packages I wasn't as familiar with. I ended up using the software less than I expected, but the advice was still really useful and there were many points that I carried into other parts of my design work
And of course, a massive thank you to the rest of Team UK. The days of competition would have been a very different experience without everyone else keeping things lively throughout the week
It's still quite strange to think that all of this started with being pushed into a competition I had never heard of, and has ended with a Bronze medal at the WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai
3D printing has been one of my main interests for around the last eight years, so getting the chance to represent the UK doing something I've spent so much of my time working with is something I'm incredibly proud of, and being able to come home with a Bronze medal makes the whole experience that much more special
I'm very proud to have represented Team UK, and to be bringing home a Bronze medal from Shanghai, however, for the next couple of days my plan is to rest and sleep..
