Young engineering enthusiasts from across Europe recently gathered in Portugal for the Clash of Trades European League competition, where future talents in the field had the chance to showcase their skills. Students from TTK University of Applied Sciences brought home second place along with a prize of €5,000, repeating their success from the previous year.
Clash of Trades is a vocational excellence competition in the field of engineering, where participants combine their knowledge in practical challenges, demonstrating problem-solving skills and teamwork.
The two-day competition in CNC machining and programming required participants to exhibit their best skills. On the first day, students were given a surprise part to program within 8 hours. On the second day, they had to cut the pre-defined shapes and dimensions from raw material using five-axis CNC milling machines within the same time frame.
This year, the task was to create three parts that formed a trophy. The base of the trophy was prepared by the teams at their respective schools before the competition, while the other two parts had to be made on-site.
“Such competitions provide our students with invaluable experience and an opportunity to shine on an international level,” said Madis Moor, the team captain and head of the mechanical engineering program at TTK. “It is a proud moment to see our students creatively apply their knowledge and grow through these challenges.”
Moor added that successfully completing the competition is a significant step in the students’ professional development and future career opportunities.
In addition to programming and machining, the competition also considered the team size, tool usage, and time taken. The Estonian team spent 5 hours on programming and 7 hours on machining.
The next competition is scheduled to take place in France next year, where the students plan to participate again and aim for a podium finish for the third time.
The Clash of Trades European League saw participation from students of six schools, with countries represented including the Czech Republic, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal, France, and Estonia.
