A toy helicopter sparked his interest. Now he’s building drones

Shafriel Nur Iman will be pitting his drone knowledge and abilities against 10 competitors from other countries at the WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai.

Published Sep 13, 2026, 12:00 PM

Updated Sep 13, 2026, 12:00 PM

Shafriel Nur Iman developed a passion for drones from a young age, which led him to represent Singapore at the 48th WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai, focusing on assembly, repair, programming, and piloting.

He trains full-time at Republic Polytechnic’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicles centre, overcoming challenges like learning Python programming from scratch to prepare for the competition.

Shafriel aims to study aerospace engineering and advance drone technology, seeing drones’ potential in security, defence, search and rescue, and environmental monitoring.

SINGAPORE – When Shafriel Nur Iman received a toy helicopter from his father for his sixth birthday, no one knew it would spark a passion that would lead him to represent Singapore at the biggest international competition for skills.

He will be pitting his drone knowledge and abilities against 10 competitors from other countries, such as China, Japan and the United Arab Emirates, at the 48th WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai from Sept 22 to 27.

The competition will assess him on the various stages of assembly, repair, programming and piloting over four days, with the longest session lasting over four hours.

This is the first time unmanned aerial systems are featured at the event, the world’s largest competition aimed at advancing technical and vocational education.

Shafriel, 18, said his accountant dad knew he was interested in flying generally and bought him toy helicopters every year.

When he was in kindergarten, he encountered a flight simulator in a cockpit while on a school trip to the Singapore Flyer. This sparked in him the desire to become a pilot “because I thought (at the time) that was the best part in the aviation industry and the only part”, he recalled.

Later, Shafriel learnt about drones in his secondary school’s applied learning programme about the future of transportation.

As he looked up the different jobs related to flying, he felt a career in drones was a good fit for him, as he liked physics and mathematics, which are relevant to aerodynamics, coding and measurement for drones.

He is now an aviation management student at Republic Polytechnic (RP) and has a particular interest in the use of drones in the security and defence sectors.

“Outside of warfare, there are good uses (for drones) like search and rescue, and monitoring – police drones can go over a crowd of people to watch for any suspicious activities,” said Shafriel.

He has ambitions to study aerospace engineering in university and eventually help advance drone technology, such as increasing the devices’ flight time.

Drone systems are gaining prominence in a range of applications, including military and environmental uses, disaster recovery, infrastructure assessment and wildlife monitoring.

Chance of a lifetime

When invited to compete in WorldSkills Shanghai around February, Shafriel chose it over an offer he received to intern in customer service at Changi Airport. He had been in the middle of training for drone soccer, in which he has represented Singapore, when his coaches approached him about the new WorldSkills category.

“I saw it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I thought it should be good for my future,” he said.

He also did not want any distractions during his full-time training, which started in March. He trains at RP’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Centre, where he also supports operations such as charging and maintaining batteries.

During training, Shafriel studies theory and does timed practice for the different stages of the competition.

It is a bonus that his training for WorldSkills will fulfil the compulsory internship requirement of his course, and RP pays him as well.

Programming, which is largely missing from his course curriculum, was Shafriel’s biggest challenge. He had to learn it from scratch for WorldSkills.

He learnt Python, a programming language, from an RP robotics lecturer and YouTube videos.

“I don’t know the logic. Because it’s scripted, it’s fast, and like Python... just to get it set up is already a headache,” he said of programming.

Another challenge for him: staying focused and not fiddling with his phone.

“My tactic is to zone out everything else, shut off my brain and work like a robot,” he said.

“When I feel stressed, I talk to myself in the third person. I mumble to myself, and tell myself inside jokes. It helps me relax.”

Engineers/Engineering

沙弗里尔·努尔·伊曼将在上海举行的世界技能大赛上，与来自其他国家的 10 位选手一较高下，展示他的无人机知识和技能。

发布于2026年9月13日下午12:00

更新于2026年9月13日中午12:00

沙弗里尔·努尔·伊曼从小就对无人机充满热情，这使他代表新加坡参加了在上海举行的第48届世界技能大赛，专注于组装、维修、编程和驾驶。

他在共和理工学院无人机中心接受全职训练，克服了从零开始学习 Python 编程等挑战，为比赛做准备。

沙弗里尔的目标是学习航空航天工程并推进无人机技术，他看到了无人机在安全、国防、搜救和环境监测方面的潜力。

新加坡——沙弗里尔·努尔·伊曼六岁生日时，父亲送给他一架玩具直升机，当时谁也没想到这会激发他的热情，让他代表新加坡参加规模最大的国际技能比赛。

他将参加9月22日至27日在上海举行的第48届世界技能大赛，与来自中国、日本、阿联酋等其他国家的10名选手一较高下，展示他的无人机知识和技能。

比赛将在四天内对他进行组装、维修、编程和驾驶等各个阶段的考核，其中最长的考核环节将持续四个多小时。

这是无人机系统首次亮相该赛事，该赛事是旨在推进技术和职业教育的全球最大规模的比赛。

18 岁的沙弗里尔说，他当会计师的父亲知道他对飞行很感兴趣，每年都会给他买玩具直升机。

他上幼儿园时，学校组织参观新加坡摩天观景轮，在那里他接触到了驾驶舱里的飞行模拟器。这激发了他成为飞行员的愿望，“因为我当时认为那是航空业最好的部分，也是唯一的部分”，他回忆道。

后来，沙弗里尔在中学关于未来交通的应用学习课程中了解到了无人机。

当他查阅与飞行相关的各种工作时，他觉得无人机行业很适合自己，因为他喜欢物理和数学，而这些学科与无人机的空气动力学、编程和测量都相关。

他目前是共和理工学院（RP）航空管理专业的学生，​​对无人机在安全和国防领域的应用特别感兴趣。

“除了战争之外，无人机还有很好的用途，比如搜救和监控——警用无人机可以飞越人群，监视任何可疑活动，”沙弗里尔说。

他立志在大学学习航空航天工程，最终帮助推进无人机技术的发展，例如增加无人机的飞行时间。

无人机系统在军事和环境用途、灾后恢复、基础设施评估和野生动物监测等一系列应用中日益普及。

千载难逢的机会

大约二月份，沙弗里尔受邀参加上海世界技能大赛，他放弃了樟宜机场客服实习的机会。当时他正在为无人机足球项目进行训练，并代表新加坡参赛。就在这时，他的教练找到他，告诉他世界技能大赛新增了无人机足球项目。

“我把它看作是一生一次的机会，所以我觉得这对我的未来有好处，”他说。

他也不希望在3月份开始的全职训练期间受到任何干扰。他在菲律宾共和国无人机中心接受训练，并在那里协助进行电池充电和维护等操作。

在训练期间，沙弗里尔学习理论知识，并针对比赛的不同阶段进行限时练习。

更棒的是，他参加世界技能大赛的培训可以满足他课程的必修实习要求，而且RP公司还会支付他报酬。

编程是沙弗里尔面临的最大挑战，因为他的课程设置中几乎没有编程内容。为了参加世界技能大赛，他不得不从零开始学习编程。

他通过向RP机器人讲师学习和观看YouTube视频，学会了Python编程语言。

“我不懂其中的逻辑。因为它是脚本化的，速度很快，而且就像 Python 一样……光是设置起来就已经很让人头疼了，”他谈到编程时说道。

对他来说，另一个挑战是：保持专注，不去摆弄手机。

“我的策略是屏蔽掉其他一切，关闭大脑，像机器人一样工作，”他说。

“当我感到压力时，我会用第三人称自言自语。我会喃喃自语，讲一些只有我们自己才懂的笑话。这能帮助我放松。”

工程师/工程