Two students from Stanly Community College are heading to Kazan, Russia, in August 2019 to represent the United States at the WorldSkills Mechatronics Competition.
WorldSkills competitors Curt Love and Ryan Hittepole are both SCC Electronics Engineering Technology graduates, 2017 and 2018 respectively, and are currently taking additional courses at SCC that are required for entry into the Electrical Engineering Technology degree program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Both students qualified for the Mechatronics team during the 54th annual National Leadership and Skills Conference recently held in Louisville, Kentucky.
SCC faculty Brian Crump (Information Technology/Network Management program head) and Frank Lambert (Networking Technology instructor) were judges for the Internetworking Competition.
Additionally, Brandon Crump (Technology Academy instructor) and Jeff Swaringen (program head, Computer Engineering Technology) were judges for the Telecommunications Cabling competition.
Awards received by SCC students include: Kimberly Griffin, Medical Math, sixth place; Chris Pallotta, Internetworking, eighth place; Tyler Tucker, Electronics Technology, ninth place; Curt Love and Ryan Hittepole, 2019 U.S. WorldSkills Mechatronics team members.
WorldSkills was founded in 1950. As many as 100,000 spectators, public policymakers, employers, teachers, trainers, technical experts and government officials from around the world attend the biennial competitions.
The WorldSkills Competition’s main legacy is to encourage professional education.
“We are proud of our students that represented SCC, Stanly County, and North Carolina. They did a remarkable job. We are especially excited to help Curt and Ryan prepare for the WorldSkills Competition in Russia next year. This is an incredible opportunity for our students and we wish them all the best,” said Gary Hatley, faculty advisor and program head, Electronics Engineering Technology.
In other highlights, this was the largest North Carolina delegation to participate in the National SkillsUSA, with N.C. winning more gold medals than any other state by one-third.
North Carolina now has three national officers and four contestants representing the United States at the 2019 WorldSkills. In addition, a North Carolina competitor was the first female national gold medalist in Bricklaying.