Morrisville State hosts statewide automotive skills competition May 13

The best and brightest eleventh- and twelfth-grade student automotive technicians from across the state will race against the clock to correctly identify and fix vehicles that have been “bugged” on purpose.



When it is all said and done, one team will drive away the winner of the FORD/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition being held at Morrisville State on May 13.



The 10 competing teams, from vocational schools across New York State, will face off in the parking lot of the Automotive Technology Building from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Teams earned a spot in the competition by scoring highest on a qualifying exam.



In the hands-on competition, students in teams of two will be diagnosing and repairing identical new Ford Motor Company vehicles which have been uniformly “bugged” so that each team has identical malfunctions to diagnose and repair. The competition requires repairs to be made with the highest quality workmanship in the shortest total time.



After properly diagnosing and repairing the vehicle, teammates must drive across the finish line where their accuracy and workmanship will be judged by Morrisville State automotive faculty and staff.



The winning two-person team and their instructor will advance to the national finals in June 2014 for the chance to compete for additional scholarship dollars and the opportunity to kick-start their automotive careers.



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.



The competition is cosponsored by AAA and Ford Motor Company.



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.



Competition Schedule May 13

8 a.m. –Breakfast, Seneca Dining Hall

8:45 a.m. –Welcome and contest briefing, automotive building showroom

9:15 a.m. –Group photographs

9:30 a.m.–Tool inspection and layout

10 a.m. – Start of contest

11:30 a.m. –End of contest

Noon–Lunch, automotive showroom

1p.m.–Trophy presentations, automotive showroom



2014 Contest Finalists

Belmont Career & Technical Center, Belmont, NY

Austin Bernard, Gage Watkins

William Sortore, instructor



Charles G. May Career & Technical Center, Mount Morris, NY

Dillon J. Gay, James C. Jason

Michael Johnson, instructor



OCM BOCES Henry Campus, Syracuse, NY

Joshua R. Hildreth, Tyler J. Shepard

Erick Dodge, instructor

-more-

MSC to host statewide auto skills competition 3—3—3



Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES, New Hartford, NY

Stephen Lichtenberger, Corey Novak

John Stratton, instructor



Ulster Career & Technology Center, Port Ewen, NY

Casey J. Dabroski, Ryan R Lamark

Kevin Roebke, instructor



Wayne Technical & Career Center, Williamson, NY

Kaleb C Reed, Brad R. Van Opdurp

Chet Kuhn, instructor



WEMOCO Career & Technology, Spencerport, NY

Brian Hallett, Chris Palmeri

David Shalke, instructor



WEMOCO Career & Technology, Spencerport, NY

Oleg V. Dyachuk, Nathan L. Munnings

Brian Walczak, instructor



Wilson Technological Center Dix Hills, Dix Hills, NY

Joe Dia, Tim Randazzo

Brian Harrison, instructor



Wilson Tech Northport, Northport, NY

John A. Disalvo, Alexander Kuzdro

Ralph Savarese, instructor