PAA Automotive Technology Competition
By Tom Butz, Manager
Fleet/Mechanical Services

I had the opportunity to assist scoring the PAA Automotive Technology Competition in early March.

This is a competition for automotive technology students that showcases the up-and-coming talent and skills of the students. To get to this part of the competition, the students participated in a written exam along with more than 100 students from 15 schools. The 20 competitors (a team of two from each school) were the highest two scorers on the written exam from each of the schools. One part of the competition has the students perform a pre-delivery inspection on one of 10 2007 model year automobiles that contained "bugs" put there by a representative of the sponsoring new car dealership.

The second segment of the competition showcases specific work stations that are components that the students have covered in their classroom instruction. These work stations included vehicle wheel alignment, precision measurement, brakes, electrical and two items that are becoming needed areas of knowledge - wave form analysis and using and understanding an automotive informational system (electronic service manual).

The winners of this competition traveled to New York City April 10-11 to participate in the National Automotive Technology Competition at the New York International Auto Show. There the students competed for more than $3 million in prizes and the title of "the Nation’s Best Automotive Technician."

I am pleased to announce that the team from Dauphin County Technical School, Tyler Thomas, Jeremy Wilt and Instructor Barry Kercher, were this year’s winners who moved to the national competition. I extend my congratulations to these two students and I am looking forward to seeing them and their fellow competitors join the ranks of automotive professionals who keep our vehicles in top shape.