A BRADFORD student will be putting his skills to the test against the world’s best at an upcoming competition in Russia.

Eduard Adam has been selected to represent the UK at the upcoming WorldSkills international skills competition which is taking place later this summer.

The 23-year-old computing student, from Manningham, is currently studying for a degree in Computer Networks and Systems Support at the University Centre Bradford College.

He made the national WorldSkills team after progressing through a series of qualifying events and an intense team selection progress at events in Birmingham and London.

Alongside the rest of the British team, he will travel to the city of Kazan in south-west Russia in August to compete in what is being dubbed the “skills Olympics”.

He will be competing against the best students and apprentices the world has to offer in the Cloud Computing section, and Eduard said he is hard at work getting prepared to try and bring home gold.

He said: “Being selected for Team UK is the biggest achievement of my life so far.

“I feel proud and honoured to represent the UK and excited about travelling to Russia and competing against fellow students from all over the world.

“I have a lot of hard work to do between now and August to make sure I am in with the best chance of getting a medal.”

Around 1,600 students, apprentices and trainees from more than 60 countries will be descending on Kazan to compete in 56 different skills, which cover everything from computing to beauty therapy, bricklaying, cooking, carpentry, floristry, fashion design, electronics and engineering.

In the Cloud Computing category, Eduard will compete in the delivery of computer power, storage, applications and other IT resources through cloud services platforms via the internet, and is sponsored by Amazon Web Services.

Eduard’s final year project complements the event he is competing in, and he certainly has the backing of his tutors and classmates.

Elvir Kesedzic, a computing lecturer at Bradford College University Centre, said: “We are delighted that Eduard is representing Team UK, and the higher education computing department, at WorldSkills 2019.

“I am proud of Eduard for taking on the challenge of entering the competition and putting in all the hard work and effort that it requires. It is great to see that work being rewarded with a place in the final.

“All his classmates and the staff are very proud of him and wish him all very best in Kazan.”

The WorldSkills 2019 competition in Kazan will run from August 22 to 27, and will be officially opened by President of Russia Vladimir Puting in a ceremony at the Kazan Arena - which hosted games in last year’s FIFA World Cup - in front of a crowd of 45,000.

Eduard, like his fellow competitors, made Team UK after coming through a series of heats, some of which were held at Bradford College.

Eduard took part in last year’s events, and three Bradford College students will be aiming to follow in his footsteps this year after success at the Bradford heat earlier this year.

If they are as successful as Eduard, they could be representing Team UK at the next World Skills Competition in 2021, which will take place in Shanghai, China.