At Vision Engineering Ltd, we pride ourselves on training staff and developing their skills. We are therefore delighted to announce that Mark Thornton has recently completed his three year EAL Level 3 Extended Diploma in Mechanical Manufacturing Engineering – CNC Machining.

Mark Thornton holding his certificate in Vision Engineering CNC machine shop

For Mark, this involved two years of day release to Kingston College where he gained an Edexcel BTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in Manufacturing Engineering (covering subjects such as Health and Safety in the Engineering Workplace, Mathematics for Engineering Technicians, Mechanical Principles and Applications, Mechanical Measurement and Inspection Techniques, Engineering Secondary and Finishing Techniques, Fabrication Processes and Technology and Setting and Proving Secondary Processing and Machines) and the completion of Level 3 NVQ CNC Machining modules through in-house training. The third year of Mark’s training has seen him become a competent CNC Machinist Operator who has now secured a permanent contract with us here at our UK headquarters, where he will continue to develop his skills and experience within a very busy Machine Shop.

Mark is the third Vision Engineering apprentice to complete a CNC Machining apprenticeship with us – previously Adam White and Adam Hitchcock finished their apprenticeships in 2016. Both are still working at Vision Engineering – Adam White is now trained to operate manual machines, CNC lathes, our Mazak Machining Centre and is now developing his programming skills on this, having successfully completed a programming course at Yamazaki Mazak UK in Worcester earlier this year.

Adam Hitchcock, after four years Machine shop experience, chose to follow a career path that has taken him into technical sales and is now working on business development with the UK Sales team.

Offering apprenticeships in Vision Engineering’s Machine Shop is part of the ongoing strategy to train and develop skilled staff to fill key areas within the company with the next generation of high class engineers, and we have recently been joined by Jacob Thomas, the newest machinist trainee.

Adam White, Mark Thornton and Adam Hitchcock - Vision Engineering apprentices

Commenting on the achievement of the apprentices, Mark Curtis, Managing Director of Vision Engineering Ltd said:

“Building on Vision Engineering’s sixty years of optical inspection and metrology expertise, the apprenticeship programme is a key component in developing the next generation of high quality engineers to take the company forwards.”

Vision Engineering Ltd is a global leading-edge manufacturer of patented ergonomic stereo microscopes, digital microscopes and non-contact measuring systems.