March 7, 2022 FSP says Yes we Cannes

Whilst most of us will be shamelessly checking out which celebrities are gracing the red carpet, what they’re wearing and who had a ‘wardrobe fail’ at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, here at FSP, we’re all thinking about how proud we are of Apprentice Dan Brown.

For the next ten days Hollywood Stars will be going in and out of the Palais de Festivals, unaware that Dan’s latest project is right beneath their feet. The product in question is a hinged FAB PAVE™ access cover, designed for ease of access with the use of mechanical lifting struts and being able to withstand large groups of traffic, from pedestrian to vehicular.

Dan, who completed his Apprenticeship with Cadcoe in 2016 had the opportunity to work on a very important engineering project to design and manufacture replacement access covers at the entrance of the famous Cannes Film Festival venue. This involved seeing the project through from start to finish, communicating with the client, product testing, finalising the model and manufacturing drawings and providing intricate instructions for the installation of the access covers.

This work was all completed as part of his role as a Design Engineer with Fabweld Steel Products. The team was commissioned by civil engineers ETS Brosio to undertake the project for their client; Cannes Waste Water Syndicate.

Dan, who is now being supported through a product design degree at Wolverhampton University, enjoyed the challenge he was presented with; “I had a brief to follow, with very specific design needs to be met, which included working with the existing framework and designing something that could be accessed on a daily basis by one person. The balance of work alongside education has prepared me well for being involved in projects like this and it feels really good to know ‘Cannes Film Festival’ is now a part of my portfolio!”

FSP Managing Director Richard Hilton supported Dan throughout the project, commenting; “The Cannes Film Festival is one of the biggest cultural events in the world and, outside of that, the Palais is the second busiest business tourism destination in France so it was imperative that we created an attractive and workable solution. Dan has done a brilliant job, using his own ideas and innovation whilst meeting the customer’s brief. It has been really good to see him grow and develop as an engineer whilst completing his apprenticeship and now his degree.”