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Armed forces technician scoops £1000 prize in top industry competition
Published:  04 January, 2016

A top British Army Technician has been named as this year’s Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) Armed Forces Technician of the Year.

Craig Fulford, one of the British Army’s Medical and Dental Technicians, won the highly-coveted award as a result of his work in Kenya and Sierra Leone at the height of the Ebola crisis.

An electrical engineer by trade, Craig was charged with ensuring that £1.5 million worth of medical equipment - essential to the Army’s Medical and Dental Service - was in full working order and was serviced to ensure good standards at all times.

This wasn’t an easy task for Fulford as it required him to undertake lengthy cataloguing of all the equipment onto a database he created from scratch – this also calculated when equipment would likely to need servicing.

In addition, Fulford was also required to study and research every piece of equipment, in order to ensure he knew exactly how to repair everything if it broke down – failure to do so could have been a heavy blow to the Army’s Medical and Dental division as well as potentially fatal for some of the communities it was striving to help.

Commended by the British Army for his efforts, Fulford was often seen going above and beyond the call of duty by helping a number of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in fixing their equipment, while also ensuring the local Navy Ship stationed nearby had a fully functioning inventory of medical equipment.

All of his efforts ensured that medical equipment was able to stay where it was needed and not have to be sent back to home nations for urgent repairs.

Collecting his Armed Forces Technician of the Year Award at a ceremony in London hosted by science presenter, Maggie Philbin, Fulford also received a £1000 prize, two years’ free membership of the IET and payment of his professional registration application fee.

He said: “I am extremely pleased and proud to have won this award. Not only does it recognise my achievements, but it also highlights the many technicians like myself who keep our armed forces prepared and ready for all eventualities whether it is for defence purposes or humanitarian purposes which I’m particularly proud to be a part of.”

Naomi Climer, IET President, said: “Electrical technicians like Craig are very often the unsung heroes of our Armed Forces. We hope that the IET Armed Forces Technician Award will help us in highlighting the people who play an important role in the armed forces, whether it be in the front line or behind the scenes – both are equally as important.”

The IET Armed Forces Technician Awards are part of the IET’s Achievement Awards and Scholarships programme, which this year provided over £1million in awards, prizes and scholarships to celebrate excellence and research in the sector and encourage the next generation of engineers and technicians.