Mumbai: Meet Simoul Alva, winner of Medallion of Excellence at World Skills, Abu Dhabi

By Rons Bantwal
Bellevision Media Network

Mumbai, 27 Oct 2017: Simoul Alva, twenty-one-year-old 7th semester student of graphic design at National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad won Medallion of Excellence at World Skills, held recently at Abu Dhabi, in graphic design and technology category, competition 5 countries: Germany, Brazil, Netherlands, Japan and Hong Kong.

 

NID alumni Anthony Lopez, founder of Lopez Design is the mentor of Simoul Alva. Simoul Alva has won the first prize in the mini skills competition, organized by the World Skills Russia at an exhibition centre in Moscow. The mini skills competition was a simulation of the WorldSkills International Competition scheduled at Abu Dhabi, from October 14 to 19. During her education at NID, Alva dabbled with typography, illustration, motion design and used her creativity to lend her voice to some of the most complex issues of the modern  world. From creating an illustration-led campaign on substance abuse to experimenting an animation on the wage gap, Alva’s skills range from subtle to nuance to unorthodox.

 

 

 

Alva was accompanied by lead trainer Anthony Lopez in Russia, who has been the guiding force behind all her efforts and progress. During the month of August, Media & Entertainment Skills Council (MESC) had also invited international trainer Wolfgang Toechterle from Italy to train her on specific areas linked to packaging and conceptualisation.

 

An awardee of the Ratan Tata Scholarship in 2015, she has also been recognised as one of the top 25-under-25 visual artists and designers of the country by GenX Tata Nano. Alva is one among 28 members of the strong Indian team who would be competing in the Graphic design category from Ahmedabad at Skill Olympics 2017. One-thousand-two-hundred competitors from over 77 member countries and regions would be participating in 51 skill competitions to prove their mettle in their field.

 

It is the global hub for skills excellence and development. Through international cooperation and development between industry, government, organizations, and institutions, it promotes the benefits of and need for skilled professionals through grass-roots community projects, skill competitions, and knowledge exchange. The National Skill and Development Corporation (NSDC) had identified all the competitors through a series of competitions organized at regional and national levels over the past two years. Post which all the candidates have undergone extensive training with the industry partners.

 

She has been declared winner after an all India selection process and thereafter she competed at the WorldSkills Competition, Abu Dhabi 2017. She received medal and awards at events both in Abu Dhabi and Russia. Simoul is also the recipient of the prestigious HLR Scholarship J Walter Thompson for 2017, which is awarded to only 5 female students across world.

 

The selection process under WorldSkills India is a tedious process and comprises the following competition levels- District Skill, State skill, Regional Skill, National/India Skill and finally World Skill Competition.

 

A student has to compete and qualify each competition level to qualify for top skill competition that is WorldSkills Competition. Each skill competition has many categories under which students from various educational disciplines, apply for this World level recognition under skill guide/s.

 

It is expected that the Indian students winning World Skills under different categories will be rewarded by our Prime Minister in sometime.

 

NID at Ahmedabad, is proud to share that, Simoul Alva, daughter of Mundkur Doddamane Dr Premraj Alva and Padubidre Sipaimane  Sadhana Alva couple, born and brought up at Chembur, Mumbai.