Arron Luker from East Wales will be heading out as part of the all Welsh cyber security team representing Team UK in WorldSkills Lyon. Aaron is well rehearsed for the national stage after speaking in global conferences previously within his employment, however the pressures of the 47th World Skills will be slightly different.
Arrons journey is very similar to his teammates, Max Clarke, where most of his educational stemmed within England. However, again as he looked to hone his skills to the world of Cyber, University of South Wales was his choice of establishment. Arron studied applied cyber security in University, and this is where his competition journey was initiated. Arron is passionate for his sector and driven for success, currently the ambition is to go out to France and get the Gold medal, everything else is on hold.
Arron has been passionate about computers from a very young age, and even started to pull them apart and build them again from the age 8. However, before returning to the world of Cyber, Arron did explore an Engineering degree. His passion within the field of IT, cyber specifically kept pulling him back, and the thought of being able to legally hack was exhilarating enough to thenf change his educational route. From here and within the University, Arron was introduced to WorldSkills UK competition, and even though Arron did not medal, his skillset demonstrated he had the talent to be part of the UK Squad and to compete to get his place in Team UK. Aaron never let the journey phase him and he powered on to demonstrate his qualities and earn his place in the cyber team to represent the UK.
When asked about his journey up until now Arron stated;
“The journey has been fantastic and full on, training has been happening at least once a week for as long as I can remember now. If it is not skills specific it has been attending UK boot camps, where we don’t just train our skills, but train ourselves as well.”
Arron has been working for Sudo Cyber as a Technical Lead for over 2 years, so a big part of the current journey, when asked how this has helped him during his role Arron responded;
“My role and the competitions have complemented each other hand in hand, I am able to take things I learn from competitions into my job and from my job into the competitions.”
Arron has already taken part in an international competition, when he and Max had been invited to the national finals in France. This was his first taste of the international stage and he was blown away by the magnitude. Arron and his team mate Max will again have an opportunity to test their skills in a pressure test in Taiwan. This will be their final opportunity to pitch their skills against other countries before heading to Lyon in September.
Arron reflected on his competition journey to date in awe of where he started and where it has taken him, and will continue to lead him to.
“I had no idea what to expect at the beginning of this journey, I have surprised myself along the way on many occasions. My advice would be to anyone thinking about competition, to give it a go, even if you don’t win, you will learn and gain so much.”
Arron will be heading to compete in Lyon between the 10th - 15th of September, WorldSkills Lyon will host over 65+ countries and see over 1,400 learners take to the world stage to compete in their chosen skill. To keep an eye on all the action follow us @iseinwales.
You could write your own competition journey, and there is no better place to start than competing in Skills Competition Wales. There are 58 different competitions for your to choose from, find out more information by following the link below;
https://inspiringskills.gov.wales/competitions