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WHS auto tech students take state title,
heading to national finals in New York
By Sherrie Norris
Nathan Mixon, left, and Josh Cook,
right, celebrate with instructor Larry Jones after winning
the statewide Automotive Technology Competition in Winston-Salem
last week. The trio will be going to New York City in
March for the National Automotive Technology Competition.
Photo by Sherrie Norris
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Watauga High School senior automotive tech students Josh Cook
and Nathan Mixon took top honors last week during the seventh
annual Automotive Technology Competition held atParkway Ford in
Winston-Salem, an event sponsored each year by the N.C. Automobile
Dealers Association in Raleigh.
The dynamic duo was among teams from Watauga, Davie, North Henderson
and Iredell-Statesville high schools which made it to the final
competition, according to Carole Walker with NCADA.
“The four teams were invited to compete after scoring the
highest on a written exam distributed to over 125 schools across
the state. During the competition, teams were presented a series
of diagnostic problems on cars and at work stations, designed
to test their knowledge, skill and speed,” Walker said.
As first place winners, Cook and Mixon each returned to Boone
with a $6,000 scholarship to Ohio Technical College, a $5,000
scholarship to Universal Technical Institute, a $1,000 renewable
scholarship to Central Piedmont Community College and a two-year
tuition scholarship to Guilford Technical Community College, in
addition to prizes from SnapOn, including a Digital Volt Ohm Meter,
a Flex Head Torque Instrument Trophy and goodie bag with pens,
hats, calendars, etc. But that’s just the beginning.
Cook, Mixon, their instructor Larry Jones and Walker will represent
North Carolina on an all-expense paid trip to New York for the
National Automotive Technology Competition March 25-26 in Manhattan
during the New York International Auto Show. Winners will drive
away in a 2008 Pontiac Solstice, with additional scholarships
and tools in hand.
Cook and Mixon said they were “really excited” when
they head their names called out as the winners following Wednesday’s
event. “They started announcing the fourth place winners,
then third, and the closer we got, the more excited we were,”
they said.
Jones said the students “are really good boys who have spent
many long hours practicing. They are very deserving of this opportunity.”
Cook and Mixon both agree they couldn’t have done it without
Jones, describing how he was by their side “the whole way,”
and “has taught us a lot.”
“Watauga High School has a strong tradition of success in
the Automotive Technology Competition,” Walker said, adding
that the school has sent a team to every statewide competition
hosted by NCADA. In 2004, Watauga won the statewide competition
and represented North Carolina in the national competition.
The first round of this most recent competition began much earlier,
as Cook and Mixon aced the written test and were chosen among
the four top-scoring teams for the “hands-on portion”
of the competition. The competition was open to students of all
NATEF-certified high school automotive programs in North Carolina.
The only “other limitations” to competing, Walker said,
“are that each student is a high school senior with adequate
attendance, and earning passing grades on his/her academic courses
of instruction. In addition, any student participating in the
written test portion of the competition must be able to travel
to the hands-on competition and also to New York should they win
at the state level.”
Walker said that the two-part “on-car portion” required
the contestants to “correctly diagnose and correct several
bugs on the car. The other part involved five different workstations,
which tested their knowledge of tools, measuring instruments and
specific vehicle components having to do with electronics, steering
and suspension, engine performance and brakes.”
At the electrical workstation, the students were expected to understand
how to read a wiring diagram, wire a circuit and use a DVOM to
diagnose a failed circuit. At the alignment station, the students
demonstrated their understanding of basic alignment angles and
vehicle geometry. The students were required to perform specific
wheel alignment angle adjustments, needing a basic knowledge of
wheel alignment equipment. At the waveform workstation, students
were expected to understand waveform voltage and frequency interpretation,
as well as waveform type, i.e., analog or digital, waveforms displayed
on a computer. Students were required to read and interpret the
waveform; they will not need to set up or navigate a lab scope.
At the wire harness repair workstation, students demonstrated
the necessary skills involving wire harness repair techniques,
including soldering with a connector, soldering without a connector,
crimping with insulated connectors/non-insulated connectors, insulating
with heat shrink tubing and connector terminal removal/replacement.
At the brakes station, the students were expected to demonstrate
their knowledge of measuring brake rotors.
The students were judged on their knowledge, skill and speed.
The car used in the competition was a 2008 Ford Escape, the same
type vehicle, Jones said, that Alfred Glover and Boone Ford Lincoln
Mercury provided his students for practice.
“We can’t thank Mr. Glover enough for supporting the
WHS automotive program, as well as his service manager Marion
George and technician Rick Cox. In addition to leaving the vehicle
with us for four days, they gave us a lot of good advice and specific
information, as well as scanners and other technology that helped
the boys prepare,” Jones said.
Founded in 1935, NCADA represents nearly 700 new car, truck and
RV dealers. The association provides advocacy, education and support
to promote a competitive automotive retail industry in North Carolina.
Cook, Mixon and Jones are looking forward to their upcoming trip
to New York for the National Automotive Technology competition,
founded by the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association.
“The competition, the auto industry’s largest school-to-work
initiative, pits the nation’s best high school automotive
vocational education students against one another for the title
of ‘America’s Top Technician,” Walker said.
“The national finals are possible thanks to the generous
contributions of over 125 industry sponsors, including automakers,
industry organizations, OEM suppliers, educational institutions,
and dealers associations from across the country,” she said.
“This year, prizes and scholarships totaling more than $3.5
million will be awarded to the participants. Snap-on, the competition’s
official tool supplier, provides tool sets to all competitors
and General Motors will present two brand new Pontiac Solstices
to the winning team, upon completion of the students’ post-secondary
education.”
At nationals, Walker said, each team of students is assigned an
automobile that is rigged to malfunction in a number of ways.
Using a repair order with actual customer complaints, the student
teams must diagnose and repair the problem within the allotted
time, using the manufacturer’s specialty tools.
Each “bug” correctly diagnosed and repaired is worth
a number of points, depending on the level of difficulty.
In addition, the students’ knowledge of emissions control
systems, alignment, electrical test equipment, airbag components,
oscilloscope usage and mechanical measurement equipment is tested
during a series of intensive workstation sessions. To prepare
for the competition, students are trained at local new car dealerships,
and the skills they learn from master technicians prepare them
to succeed in the working world.
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