Smart Schooling

Hamilton Litestat tackle the industry skills shortage by supporting electrical installation training for apprentices.

Hamilton Litestat is providing electrical installation training aids, including smart control systems, to apprentices at the Kings Langley Campus at West Herts College, Hertfordshire, in an attempt to curb the current industry skills shortage and support the next generation of qualified electricians.

Through its relationship with a local Hemel Hempstead-based wholesaler, the company is supplying West Herts College with purpose-built smart control wiring boards for use during its electrical training courses. These interactive demonstration boards allow the apprentices – typically aged 16-18 – to learn how to wire Hamilton’s Smart Lighting Control and Multi-Room Audio systems and help them gain experience and confidence in wiring smart control solutions.

The Hamilton training boards feature a mock-layout of a house with LED lamps positioned in various rooms. Attached to the board is a 4-channel Smart Dimmer pack as well as a 2-channel audio pack. The apprentices can wire up various circuits in the house as requested and control the system using a push-button or touchscreen control plate. There’s also the option to download the iOS/Android app and control the system with a swipe of their finger.

“Working with manufacturers, such as Hamilton, gives our students a great insight into their future careers and helps them better understand the industry,” explains Gordon Clarke, Head of School, Engineering at West Herts College. “Smart technology is now mainstream, and students should be encouraged to work with it. Receiving the hands-on experience that has been facilitated by Hamilton’s support is a really valuable learning tool for our students.”

Hamilton’s Marketing Manager, Gavin Williams, added: “We want to support in training our next wave of qualified electricians to ensure they are educated on smart controls and not daunted by them. Hamilton is investing in programmes like this, along with our own free training courses, to help try and bridge the industry’s skills gap.”

Due to the misconception of complicated programming processes, the adoption of smart controls and smart technology amongst qualified electricians has been stilted. Hamilton is continuing its efforts to combat this misunderstanding: it’s Smart Lighting Control Challenge, which has run at various exhibitions, and free training courses at its facilities in Mere have gone some way to help those who want to embrace the ‘smart era’ change.

To check course availability on any of the listed training dates, or to discuss arranging a group booking on an alternative day email: technical@hamilton-litestat.com