MORRISVILLE, NY— “Gentlemen start your engines. Or try.” That was the key phrase that jump-started the FORD/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition held recently outside of Morrisville State College’s automotive technology building.
And with those words, Tyler Farley and Izack Alvarado, from the OCM BOCES Henry Campus in Syracuse, quickly went to work trying to find the “bugs” in a 2015 Ford Fiesta.
Their strategy was to work closely together while concentrating heavily on each other’s strengths. Farley was confident in his electrical skills and was relying on Alvarado for others. Their experience working at Pep Boys would also come in handy during the competition.
Farley and Alvarado were among two-man teams, the best and brightest eleventh- and twelfth-grade student automotive technicians from across the state, who raced against the clock to correctly identify and fix identical 2015 Ford Fiestas that were “bugged” on purpose.
Brandon Tyrel and Daniel Pitts, from Southern Adirondack Education Center, planned on working together and maintaining open communication.
With a grandfather who works in the auto industry, a father who runs a heavy equipment business, and through his own experience working at a Ford dealership, Tyrel was pretty confident in his abilities.
After properly diagnosing and repairing the vehicle, teammates drove across the finish line where their accuracy and workmanship were judged by Morrisville State automotive faculty and staff. The competition, held every year at MSC, is cosponsored by AAA and Ford Motor Company.
Farley and Alvarado finished in eighth place, while Tyrel and Pitts placed seventh. Farley and Tyrel were among competitors who have been accepted in Morrisville State College’s automotive technology program this fall.
The competing teams were from vocational schools across New York State who earned a spot in the competition by scoring highest on a qualifying exam.
In the hands-on competition, students were tasked to diagnose and repair identical new Ford Motor Company vehicles (2015 Ford Fiestas) which were uniformly “bugged” so that each team had identical malfunctions to diagnose and repair. The competition required repairs to be made with the highest quality workmanship in the shortest total time.
The winning two-person team and their instructor advance to the national finals in Michigan, in June.
At the national competition, each member of the 50 state teams will take a written exam. Errors on the written exams are converted into time demerits that are added to the team’s time for the “hands-on” mechanical competition in both the state and national competitions.
The names of the contestants are submitted to AAA affiliated service facilities, Ford Motor Company dealers, and many other sponsoring organizations in need of automotive technicians and service specialists.
Morrisville State College offers two bachelor degrees: a bachelor of technology degree in automotive technology management and a bachelor of business administration degree in automotive technology, as well as two associate degrees: one in automotive technology and the other in auto body technology.
Morrisville’s automotive facilities include an award-winning automotive technology building with nine state-of-the art laboratories, a showroom, and an auto body building with a lab containing superior air purification equipment, a laser device for measuring frame damage, and a Garmat Paint Station.
As the only campus with its own parts department and live service desk, both run by students, students gain communication skills performing live work on faculty, staff and student vehicles.
Morrisville State’s curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs.
In addition to being named to the 2014 President’s Higher Community Education Service Honor Roll, the college was recognized by U.S. News and World Report as an institution in the top tier of the Best Regional Colleges list and ranked second among regional colleges nationwide for outperforming its anticipated graduation rate.
Competition results:
- First place, Monroe 1 BOCES in Fairport, Leo Ratcliffe and Dustin Greene
- Second place, Oswego County BOCES Burton Center in Williamstown, Giuseppe Nozzolillo and Kevin C. Cronk
- Third place, OCM BOCES McEvoy Campus in Cortland, Raymond Wright and Jack DiCicco
- Fourth place, Wilson Tech Northport in Northport, Joe N. Pirretti and Michael J. Murphy
- Fifth place, Charles G. May Career & Technology in Mount Morris, Travis J. Kochara and Collin J. Susz
- Sixth place, Genesee Valley BOCES in Batavia, Matthew A. Willis and Tucker Allen
- Seventh place, Southern Adirondack Educational Center, Brandon D. Tyrel and Daniel M. Pitts
- Eighth place, OCM BOCES Henry Campus in Syracuse, Tyler W. Farley and Izack Alvarado
- Ninth place, Thomas A. Edison High School, Jason S. Sanchez and Jordan Kanneh
- Tenth place, Ulster BOCES, Harold Anderson and Luther Slegona