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“It feels pretty special,” Ebanks told the Cayman Compass this week, after completing his training using Inspire Cayman’s new Tenstar Heavy Equipment Simulator and collecting his UK-accredited NOCN Group certificate.

It makes him the first person on island to be an internationally accredited heavy equipment operator.

But it’s more than that for the 35-year-old, now employed with the Department of Environmental Health, who told the Compass he is now able to live his childhood dream.

“From time I was a little kid [I liked heavy equipment]. That’s pretty much all little boys growing up, you know, they want heavy equipment or they like dump trucks and stuff like that… Then I got a little older and excavators were where I wanted to be at,” Ebanks said.

Ebanks, who used to work at the port, said he saw an opportunity to follow his childhood dream and get certified through Inspire Cayman – so he decided to do it.

Taking Cayman into 21st century learning

He said he spent six weeks training on the simulator and there were some hurdles to navigate.

“It’s 32 hours of simulation time that you go through before you are eligible to do the practical tests to be qualified… It varied from just learning to drive the machine through obstacles and not damage buildings or injure people on the work site to learning to dig [using] GPS,” he explained.

He said he previously had had very little operating experience and had never dug with GPS before.

“But going through this, I feel comfortable if I get in a machine that has GPS equipped, I can operate the machine just like the simulator,” he said.

Ebanks said having the simulator in Cayman was helpful as he had to go to the UK to do the welding part of the qualification.

“I feel learning in this way, jumping into a machine with the attachments and stuff, I feel like I’m in 2023, versus 1995 technology. I feel equipped for this day-and-age’s machinery, so this was definitely worth it,” he added.

He said switching from the simulator to actually running the heavy equipment was not much of change. He is now working at DEH operating the excavator and the front-end loader.

“The only difference is that the hydraulics on the simulator move a little faster than the real machine,” he said.

Ebanks’ certification was also a milestone for managing director at Inspire Cayman Training Michael Myles, having made the $100,000 investment in the simulator.

“We are all about helping Caymanians develop careers, and when we purchased the simulator, it was all about filling a void. There’s a demand, we all know that construction is never going to end in our country, but we also have to be the recipients of what construction is as well. The biggest challenges that we’re having in Cayman right now is that our people aren’t in those capacities,” he stated.

Commitment key to certification

Ebanks’ certification and employment, Myles said, is a testament to the value of the courses at the centre and the opportunities open to Caymanians.

He lauded Ebanks’ drive and commitment to complete his course and get certified.

“Solomon has proven that this programme works. Solomon dedicated three days a week, two hours a day. He did it from 6 o’clock to 8 o’clock… This shows that you can still work full-time and still do a phenomenal programme,” Myles said.

Ebanks spent six weeks training on the simulator to get certified. -Photo: Reshma Ragoonath

He encouraged young people to consider careers in construction.

“We want to move Caymanians forward, and the only way for us to do that is to continue to invest in good technology and make sure that Caymanians have access. That’s the part that I think that we are trying to focus on a lot more,” he said.

Myles said Inspire Cayman is talking to government and private sector organisations with a view to offering certifications to all Caymanians regardless of their field of interest, whether it be IT or administrative work or operating heavy machinery.

Ebanks thanked the team at the DEH and Inspire Cayman for their support and encouragement.