Combining lighter and stronger alternatives to metals for use in manufacturing.
Occupational Profile
Composites manufacture is the combining of materials to form a lighter and stronger rigid structure as an alternative to metal. These lightweight rigid structures are essential in the Aerospace, Automotive, Marine and Renewables industries and are becoming increasingly important in the Oil & Gas, Construction and Rail sectors. The composite industry therefore has an increasing requirement for skilled employees.
A Composites Technician employed within a Composites Manufacturing environment will find themselves at the heart of cutting edge technologies using state of the art equipment and will become a skilled resource that will be an enabler for manufacturing technologies, processes and practices.
A Composites Technician is engaged in a variety of processes in the production and creation of materials and components that are used in a range of applications including but not limited to: airplanes, cars, boats, turbine blades, oil & gas rigs, bridges, trains and satellites. They provide specialized knowledge and skills that support manufacturing programmes and projects and may be deployed in the areas of design, tooling, moulding, lay-up, curing, machining, inspection, testing, repair and material production. As the Technician grows in competence and expertise, other areas of composites technology such as automated manufacture development, preform technologies, processing technologies, validation and post processing, may form part of their role and responsibility.
Summary of standard
https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/composites-technician/
Full standard
https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/media/1204/composites_technician.pdf
