Auto skills competition to recognize country's top young auto technicians

RP news wires
Tags: talent management, maintenance and reliability

With the economy still facing challenging times, one sector that continues to show signs of increased productivity is automotive maintenance and technology. And, as vehicles of today continue to increase in complexity with advanced technologies, auto technicians must be well-educated and highly-skilled to meet these increasing advancements in the auto industry.

Enthusiastically waiting in the wings to meet that increased demand head-on are the nation's future young automobile technicians, who will showcase their acumen and talent at the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills National Finals in Dearborn, Mich., June 13-15. A timed, head-to-head skills showdown, the competition gives top automotive students from all 50 states the opportunity to demonstrate their automotive knowledge and problem-solving capabilities by resolving "real world" repair challenges.

The 61st annual competition features top high school automotive technology students from across the country with each state represented by a team of two students and their high school instructor. Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills enables many of its participants to embark on promising careers in the automotive repair industry with a record-high $11.5 million in scholarships offered this year and promising employment opportunities following completion of their education or technical training.

In addition to the scholarships, in July the winning students will job shadow the Roush Fenway Racing No. 16 Con-way Freight team leading up to and during the Kroger 200, benefiting Riley Hospital for Children NASCAR race at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. Students also will have the opportunity to interact at-track with one of racing's most successful and recognized crew chiefs, Larry McReynolds, who is serving as the national spokesperson for the Ford/AAA Auto Skills program this year.

Beyond the prizes and scholarships, this "best of the best" competition represents the final face-off and will bring together the best 100 automotive technology students in the country that have spent countless hours of class time and extra preparation in pursuit of the national championship. Narrowed down from the 10,500 students that started the competition back in March, the national finalists represent a variety of backgrounds and have taken several different paths in pursuit of their dreams. Some of the personal storylines include:

This year marks the 26th year that AAA has been involved with the competition, serving as a co-sponsor since 1984, while Ford Motor Company celebrates its 16th year. Nearly 10,500 high school juniors and seniors competed in this year's competition. Following an online exam, the highest-scorers advanced to their states' hands-on competition, with the top teams from each state advancing to the National Finals.

At the National Finals, teams representing each state will have their automotive knowledge tested with a 100-question written exam followed by a hands-on competition on the front lawn of Ford World Headquarters. The scores from both will be combined to crown the 2010 national champion.