The SkillsUSA National Championships returned to Kansas City, Missouri last week, where NIMS once again coordinated the Precision Machining Technology (PMT) Contest, as well as two other contests – CNC Milling and CNC Turning.  In support of the PMT and CNC Championships, and to pay recognition to the many volunteers who make these contests possible through donations of financial, material, and human resources, NIMS also held several events throughout the week of June 20-24.  A full schedule of events can be found in the SkillsUSA 2011 Machining & CNC Championships Program.

The week officially kicked off at the Business & Technology Campus of the Metropolitan Community College of Kansas City (BTC-MCCKC) on Tuesday, June 21 with PMT and CNC contestant check-in, followed by two orientations hosted by three major supporters of these machining contests: Haas Automation, Immersive Technologies, and Sandvik Coromant.  Contestants and Advisors then attended a pre-contest luncheon, led by NIMS Deputy Director James Wall, where congratulations were offered in acknowledgement of reaching the national level of competition.  Following the luncheon, CNC Turning contestants immediately returned to Bartle Hall to begin the programming portion of their contest.

On Wednesday, June 21, CNC contestants continued and completed contest events at Bartle Hall, while PMT contestants embarked on the manual machining portion of their contest at the BTC-MCCKC.  Later that evening, NIMS hosted a dinner at the Golden Ox Restaurant for the judges, National Education Teams, and Technical Committees that enable NIMS and SkillsUSA to produce and maintain these three contests.  Speaking at the program were Chairman of the NIMS Board of Directors Gregory Chambers (Oberg Industries), NIMS Executive Director Stephen C. Mandes, Chairman of the National Tooling & Machining Association Grady Cope, keynote speaker and Chief Executive Operator of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Mark Tomlinson, followed by NIMS Deputy Director James Wall who wrapped up the evening with a preview of Thursday’s contest events.  Mr. Mandes also acknowledged and thanked the major sponsors without whom these three skills contests would not have occurred:  Haas, Metropolitan Community College of Kansas City - Business & Technology Campus, L. S. Starrett, the Precision Metalforming Association Educational Foundation, Sandvik Coromant, and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, that latter having made this dinner possible and with whom NIMS is excited to work with on future education-focused events.

Thursday, June 23 saw the conclusion of the PMT competition at Bartle Hall, where contestants completed contest events including a theory exam, GD&T exam, process control tests, CNC milling programming, and CNC turning programming.  NIMS staff, contest judges, and members of the Contest Administrative Team worked in partnership to tabulate scores.  The final rankings for all three contest areas were submitted to SkillsUSA on Thursday evening in preparation for the Awards Ceremony on Friday, June 24.

Each of the three skills contests were divided into secondary and post-secondary levels, with three medalists in each category:

Precision Machining Technology Winners from the Secondary Level:

• Gold:  David A. Calamita of Cotterville, MI – Saint Clair TEC
• Silver:  Darrell W. McDaniel of Hokes Bluff, AL – Etowah Career Technology Center
• Bronze:  Troy Howes of Cummington, MA – Smith Vocational & Agricultural High School

Precision Machining Technology Winners from the Post-Secondary Level:

• Gold:  Sean Johnson of Renton, WA – Renton Technical College
• Silver:  Terrence Hill of Miltona, MN – Alexandria Tech College
• Bronze:  Jerry Bonifield of Millstadt, IL – Southwestern Illinois College

CNC Milling Winners from the Secondary Level:

• Gold:  Justin Gagne of Westport, MA – Diman Regional Vocational-Technical High School
• Silver:  Trey M. Smith of Lima, OH – Apollo Career Center
• Bronze:  Ryan Stoll of Princeton, IN – Princeton Community High School​​​​​​​

CNC Milling Winners from the Post-Secondary Level:

• Gold:  Aaron Van Wormer of Valparaiso, IN – Vincennes University
• Silver:  Colton Nunnally of Anniston, AL – Gadsden State Community College – Anniston Campus
• Bronze:  Joshua Bedell of St. Petersburg, AL – PTEC Clearwater Campus​​​​​​​

CNC Turning Winners from the Secondary Level:

• Gold:  Tyler Maikranz of Princeton, IN – Princeton Community High School
• Silver:  Casey Rodriguez of Fall River, MA – Diman Regional Vocational-Technical High School
• Bronze:  Jason Saliga of Leonard, MI – Romeo Engineering & Technology Center​​​​​​​

CNC Turning Winners from the Post-Secondary Level:

• Gold:  Macintosh McGrew of Hawley, MN – Alexandria Tech College
• Silver:  Sean Parker of Royston, GA – North Georgia Technical College
• Bronze:  Ronald Olkowski of Big Rapids, MI – Ferris State University​​​​​​​

Congratulations to the eighteen medalists and to all the young men and women who competed in this year’s PMT and CNC contests.  You are truly some of the most advanced machining students in the country and your future is bright!  Keep up the great work and never stop learning!

NATIONAL TECHNICAL COMMITTEE:

Many thanks everyone who facilitated these contests!  We could not have done this without you!

• Julie Aitkens, Technical Manager, Honeywell, FM&T
• Darrell Bryant, Operations Program Manager, Honeywell Aerospace
• Gregory Chambers, Director of Corporate Compliance and Safety, Oberg Industries
• Keith Crawford, Manager, Training & Productivity Center, Sandvik Coromant
• George Crossland, President, Crossland Machinery
• Edward Dobkins, President, Dobkins Drill Systems, Inc.
• Keith Hildebrand, Production Supervisor, Remmele Engineering, Inc.
• Doug Nelson, R&D Specialist, IRWIN Industrial Tool Company
• Mark Oldham, Risk Management Service Loss Control, Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company
• Robert Parent, Instructor, Gateway Community College
• Wayne Reilly, Applications Manager, Haas Automation, Inc.
• Scott Robinson, Leader Mangers, Tech Services, L.S. Starrett Company
• Bob Skodzinsky, North American HTEC Manager, Haas Automation, Inc.
• Thomas Souther, Trades Training Specialist, Sandia National Laboratories
• Chuck Tate, Training Specialist, Sandvik Coromant
• Casey Wright, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Keller North America
• Kenneth Wright, President, Keller North America​​​​​​​

INDUSTRY JUDGES (by category):

CNC PROGRAMMING – MILLING

• Micah Babcock, Haas Automation, Inc.
• Chris Bien, President, Immersive Engineering
• Steve Hawthorne, Haas Automation, Inc.
• Jerry Sage, International Trade Show Coordinator, Haas Automation, Inc.

CNC PROGRAMMING – TURNING

• Patrick Sayn, Applications Engineer, Immersive Engineering
• Daniel Scott (Team Leader), Applications Engineer, Haas Automation, Inc.
• Bob Skodzinsky, HTEC Program Director, Haas Automation, Inc.
• Thomas Souther, Senior Technologist, Sandia National Laboratories​​​​​​​

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Julie Aitken (Team Leader), Technical Manager, Honeywell FM&T
• Chris Boucher, Engineer II, Honeywell FM&T
• Ben Brown, Intern, Honeywell FM&T
• Elizabeth Fossey, Technical Manager, Honeywell FM&T
• Brett Griffith, Machining Engineer, Honeywell FM&T
• Matt Holtman, Engineer I, Honeywell FM&T

MANUAL MILLING MACHINE OPERATION

• Edward Dobkins (Team Leader), Owner, Dobkins Drill System, Inc.
• Brian Lasker, Design Checker, R & D Leverage
• Dave Logsdon, CNC Group Leader, R & D Leverage
• Robert Parent
• Carl Snider, Toolmaker, R & D Leverage
• Don Watson, Technical Manager, Honeywell FM&T

MANUAL ENGINE LATHE OPERATION

• Travis Crossland (Team Leader), Vice President, Crossland Machinery
• Darrell Bryant, Productivity Leader, Honeywell Aerospace Strategic Sourcing
• Kenneth Dwyer, President, Neosho Industrial Supply, Inc.
• David Howard, Vice President, Howard Machine
• Robert Jones, Oberg Industries, Inc.
• Doug Nelson, Research Development Senior Specialist, IRWIN Industrial Tool Company
• Anne Piccinini, Toolmaker, R & D Leverage​​​​​​​

PROCESS CONTROL/ PRECISION MEASUREMENT

• Scott Robinson (Team Leader), Manager Tech Services, The L.S. Starrett Company
• Travis Crossland, Vice President, Crossland Machinery
• Craig Hickerson, The L.S. Starrett Company
• Bob Lamb, Factory Representative, The L.S. Starrett Company
• Neil Perry, Missouri State Director, Apprenticeship, US Department of Labor
• Linda Trued, Office of Apprenticeship, US Department of Labor

​​​​​​​COOPERATIVE ADMINISTRATION TEAMS:

OVERALL TEAM LEADERS

• Gregory Chambers, Chairman, Board of Directors, National Institute for Metalworking Skills
• James Wall, Deputy Director, National Institute for Metalworking Skills

CUTTING TOOL COORDINATORS

• Keith Crawford, Manager, Technical Support, Sandvik Coromant
• David Bendel, Productivity Engineer, Sandvik Coromant
• Chuck Tate, Productivity Engineer, Sandvik Coromant

MACHINE SET-UP AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT

• Jerry Sage, Trade Show Coordinator, Haas Automation, Inc.
• George Crossland, President, Crossland Machinery Company
• Travis Crossland, Vice President, Crossland Machinery Company​​​​​​​

SCORE KEEPER/TIMEKEEPER

• Debra Bultnick​​​​​​​

METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE FACILITY

• Tom Wheeler, Dean, Metropolitan Community College
• Gene Giarratano, Manufacturing Tech Coordinator, Metropolitan Community College
• Penny Tepesch, Manufacturing Tech, Metropolitan Community College

PROVIDERS OF FUNDS FOR CONTEST OPERATION, DONATED MATERIALS, MACHINES & EQUIPMENT

• Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), Donations towards Contest Operations
• BobCAD-CAM, Donation towards Contest Operations
• Boston Centerless, Raw Materials
• Boston Tooling & Machining Association, Inc., Donation towards Contest Operations
• Crossland Machinery Company, Inc., Coordinates Manpower, Equipment, Tooling, & Raw Materials
• Fischer Special Tooling, Donation towards Contest Operations
• Haas Automation, Inc., CNC Turning Center and CNC Milling Center, Thirty-six (36) CNC Simulators
• Industrial Press, Books for All Competitors and Advisors, Prizes for Medalists
• ISCAR Ltd., Donation towards Contest Operations
• Metropolitan Community College, Competition Site and Use of Equipment
• Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Education Foundation, Donation towards Contest Operations
• Sandvik Coromant Company, Cutting Tools for all Contests
• Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Donation towards Contest Operations
• Southern Manufacturing Technologies, Donation towards Contest Operations
• The L.S. Starrett Company, Measuring Tools for all Contests
• TCI Precision Metals, Raw Materials
• Universal Automatics, Inc., Donation towards Contest Operations

To view contact information for participating companies and organizations, please see page fourteen and fifteen of the SkillsUSA 2011 Machining & CNC Championships Program.