Taipei Tech vehicle engineering student Yang Ting-Yu won the gold medal in car painting in WorldSkills 2019, an international competition that accolades young, skilled professionals. WorldSkills 2019 took place in Kazan, Russia, and Taiwan ranks the fourth among sixty-three countries in overall performance by receiving five gold medals, five silver, five bronze, and twenty-three medallions for excellence. 

 

Yang is currently a junior vehicle engineering student in Taipei Tech’s co-op program. Her interest in car painting was sparked after she entered BMW Taiwan as an apprentice in her sophomore year. With support from the company, she changed her speciality to car painting and began her training.

 

From the initial training to winning a gold medal, it only took Yang one and half year. When she entered the competition, though, Yang was expecting an honorable mention at the most. She thinks the fact that WorldSkills 2019 did not announce any specifics prior to the actual competition was a great advantage to her. Since the actual competing topics remained unveiled until the competitors arrived at the venue, none of them could have practiced extensively in certain areas. Yang said that the competition this year feels a lot like working in a normal car repair facility, in which you need to be good at all aspects of car painting in order to fulfill customer’s needs. The topics this year include bumper painting, inner and outer hood spray, and wheel rim painting, among others.

 

Yang recalled that her family were worried about potential injuries and paint toxicity when she first picked up car painting. She was able to provide facts about the advanced protective gear that is used in the industry and convinced her family to support her. They were a strong supporting force during her preparation for WorldSkills 2019. 

 

Car painting has traditionally been a male-dominant job. Yang, however, has never experienced any negative bias at work. Her colleagues think she is very detail-oriented and is a great fit for the job. Her colleagues have all been very supportive and willing to guide and teacher her everything about car painting. 

 

For the future, Yang will remain in the car industry. Her short-term goal is to finish her degree, and she will keep exploring the different possibilities in this industry.