After another thrilling week of competition the 2012 SkillsUSA National Championships for CNC Milling, CNC Turning, and Precision Machining Technology are now complete and a total of eighteen medalists have been named.  The three contest areas saw an increased number of contestants from across the United States, particularly in the Precision Machining Technology contest which had 71 contestants.  To achieve entry to the National Championships, contestants first won gold medals at regional and state SkillsUSA contests in Spring 2012.

View Photos from the 2012 SkillsUSA National Championships

CNC Milling

Secondary:

• Gold Medal – Apollo Career Center, Ohio
• Silver Medal – Platt Technical High School, Connecticut^
• Bronze Medal – Monty Tech, Massachusetts

Post Secondary:

• Gold Medal – Renton Technical College, Washington^
• Silver Medal – Ranken Technical College, Missouri^
• Bronze Medal – Wallace State Community College, Alabama^

CNC Turning

Secondary:

• Gold Medal – Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School, Massachusetts^
• Silver Medal – Earnest Pruett Center of Technology, Alabama^
• Bronze Medal – Breckinridge County High School, Kentucky

Post Secondary:

• Gold Medal – North Dakota State College of Science, North Dakota^
• Silver Medal – Lake Superior College, Minnesota
• Bronze Medal – Columbia Basin College, Washington

Precision Machining Technology

Secondary Level:

• Gold Medal – Huntington North High School, Indiana
• Silver Medal – St. Clair Technical Education Center, Michigan
• Bronze Medal – Newton High School, Kansas

Post Secondary Level:

• Gold Medal – Pueblo Community College, Colorado
• Silver Medal – Linn State Technical College, Missouri^
• Bronze Medal – Wallace State Community College, Alabama^

^NIMS Accredited program (or currently pursuing accreditation)

Contestants were faced with a series of skill and related theory challenges, including process control, CNC programming, an oral professional development assessment, and various written exams.  Precision Machining Technology students also completed manual machining events at the nearby Metropolitan Community College – Business and Technology Center.

Several exciting initiative were established for this year’s contests thanks to support from industry:

The Gene Haas Foundation supported students with a $27,000 grant to the SME Education Foundation for the development of a SkillsUSA Machining Championship Award Program.  Through this generous donation, medalists from each of the three machining contests will receive scholarships in the amount of $2,000 for gold medalists, $1,500 to silver medalists, and $1,000 to bronze medalists, for the purpose of continuing their technical education after the 2012 National Championship.

Siemens Industry, Inc. provided National Precision Machining Student Scholarships so that contestants of all three contests may become registered with NIMS (if not already in the NIMS system) and subsequently pursue two NIMS skills credentials, which are national, industry-recognized certifications.

On the evening of Monday, June 25 a special dinner in recognition of judges and industry volunteers was held at the Golden Ox Restaurant and was made possible thanks to the Society for Manufacturing Engineers.  Speaking at the dinner were Mark Tomlinson (Executive Director and CEO of SME) and LaRoux Gillespie (President of SME).  A welcome message and remarks were also provided by NIMS Executive Director James Wall, as well as NIMS Board Members Gregory Chambers and George Crossland.

SME is also working with NIMS to produce a special post-SkillsUSA edition of The Standard, the official newsletter of NIMS.  Watch for this newsletter in the coming days!

The following companies provided funding for contest operation, donated materials, machines, and /or equipment to contest areas, or provided staff to assist with the various contest areas:

• Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT)
• Boston Centerless
• Boston Tooling & Machining Association, Inc.
• Calculated Industries
• Crossland Machinery Company, Inc.
• Delmar Cengage Learning
• Dobkins Drill Systems, Inc.
• Haas Automation, Inc.
• Honeywell FM&T
• Howard Machine
• Immersive Engineering
• Industrial Press
• Irwin Industrial Tools
• Metropolitan Community College – Business & Technology Center
• National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA)
• Neosho Industrial Supply
• Oberg Industries, Inc.