Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Ebrahim K Kanoo's technician Hussain Issa Jassim won the Silver Award in the Automobile Technology category in the recent GCC Skills Abu Dhabi 2008 competition held in Al Ain City, UAE.
The competition was the first of its kind to be held in the Middle East. Male and female students from various technical and vocational colleges and institutes in the region participated in the contest. They were supervised by 24 international and 12 GCC experts.
The E K Kanoo Automobile Technology Workshop collaborated with the Bahrain Institute of Technology for nearly a year to prepare the required skill sets for this prestigious event. Automobile Technology was one of seven contest categories which covered various vocational fields.
As well as scooping the Silver Award, Mr Jassim also won a Gold Award for scoring top marks in his category.
He said he was "delighted" to have received the accolades.
Michael Goode, general manager-service at E K Kanoo, the sole distributor of Toyota and Lexus in Bahrain, said: "We are very proud that Mr Jassim has won this award; not only for us but for Bahrain.
"At E K Kanoo, we pride ourselves on our state-of-the-art facilities and investment in training. This award is recognition of our efforts in this area."
GCC Skills is a regional non-profit organisation whose mission is to promote and encourage vocational education in the region.
It is a member of World Skills International, a co-operative global partnership of organisations that seek to promote, support and encourage vocational education.
The three day competition was held under the auspices of Shaikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces who opened the event.
Contestants in the automobile technology category were put through the following areas for evaluation: engine diagnosis, electrical diagnosis, brake & ABS evaluation, wheel alignment and chassis overhaul, and overhaul of the engine assembly and transmission assemblies.
E K Kanoo is already preparing for next year's contest and is confident it can build on this year's achievement.
