YOU would be forgiven for thinking that the team behind Ireland’s first alcohol-free pub, the former High Nelly in Pallasgreen, had a crystal ball given that they began offering bicycle engineering courses before e-bikes were even on the radar.
Now, Marty Mannering and his team at the Bicycle Engineering Academy in Ballycummin are offering the first officially recognised e-bike and scooter technician course in Europe.
The course is fully funded by the Education and Training Board and open to everyone, from early school leavers to retired people, with the eldest participant currently 68 years old.
The Bicycle Engineering Academy was launched in 2020 and offers a unique alternative to college. Its engineering courses focus around the design and hand-manufacturing process of a bicycle, giving students hands-on experience.
Students can move on to third-level education directly after one year or venture into industry with transferable skills and a collection of internationally-recognised qualifications, including a mechanical engineering diploma.
“The bicycle industry needs qualified bicycle, e-bike, and e-scooter technicians to feed the ever growing powered personal transport market as it expands, and the academy delivers on all fronts as an industry leader,” academy founder Martin Mannering told the Limerick Post.
Limerick teen Alex Quinlivan was an early school leaver, leaving his second level education in search of a job. He passed by the academy one day and stepped in to see what it was all about.
Now, the inspired teen has recently graduated from the academy as a professional bicycle mechanic and will soon graduate at a higher level after the advanced traineeship modules the academy is just about to launch.
The academy has just begun offering a one-year training course, as well as add-on modules to its shorter course, resulting in an international mechanical engineering diploma and a CAD certificate .
And graduates will ride off into a future career on a bicycle that they have personally designed and hand-built themselves.
“Alex is an exceptional young man,” says Martin. “He is like a sponge when you speak to him about self employment, he just wants to get out there and make things happen. I am delighted that we have managed to keep him in further education long enough to help him gain some internationally recognised qualifications and give him some skills that will help his obvious entrepreneurial spirit.”
For information on how to enrol at the academy, visit BEA.ie.
