For more than two decades, Utah Valley University (UVU) students have flourished at the national conference for SkillsUSA. Last week in Atlanta was no different for UVU students competing in 19 categories, including two national champion gold medalists, two silver medalists, and three bronze medalists and podium finishers.

• The national champion gold medal winners were the Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing) team of Dallin Hansen and Thomas Swindler and the Robotics and Automation Technology team of Alexander Marcum and Zach Pittman. Hansen and Swindler are current architecture and engineering design students, while Marcum and Pittman are in the UVU Engineering Technology Program.
• Silver medal winners include Ethan Jacobson in Cabinetmaking and Seth Christmas in Collision Repair Technology. Jacobson is a student in UVU’s Construction Program and Christmas studies in automotive technology.
• The bronze medal winners featured Jayden Tanner in Industrial Motor Control, Jared Karbakhsh in Computer Programming, and Charles Moake in Automotive Refinishing Technology. Tanner is an engineering technology major, Karbakhsh studies computer science, and Moake is in the automotive technology degree program.

In 19 categories at the national conference, 18 of the 19 UVU competitors finished in the top ten, including three category participants who finished just off the podium in fourth place. In total, nearly 6,000 students from across the country attended the national conference to compete. Visit the SkillsUSA Championships page to view all medalists from Utah and beyond.

“Based on the seven national medal categories won, UVU tied for the ranking of fourth in the nation this year for all post-secondary colleges and universities in the United States,” said Darin Taylor, UVU SkillsUSA director.  “Over the past 22 years, UVU has consistently been ranked among the top five in the nation. These results show, without a doubt, that the students of UVU are among the best of the best. They represented UVU and the state of Utah very well and should be very proud of their accomplishments.”

UVU is an ardent supporter of the SkillsUSA program. The SkillsUSA mission statement says, “SkillsUSA empowers its members to become world-class workers, leaders, and responsible American citizens. We improve the quality of our nation’s future skilled workforce through the development of SkillsUSA Framework skills that include personal, workplace, and technical skills grounded in academics. Our vision is to produce the most highly skilled workforce in the world, providing every member the opportunity for career success.”

Each annual event is a massive conference that requires support from high schools, universities, and industry sponsors from all 50 states. Over $36 million from industry and education is invested in the SkillsUSA Championships. The event requires an immense amount of equipment and materials, including 2,000 computers, 12,500 bricks and 1,500 blocks, 60+ stoves and ovens, 25+ refrigerators, 100+ welders, 50+ manufacturing machines, and complete laboratories for machining, welding, auto repair, and painting. Additionally, the contestants’ area requires 1.79 million square feet (equivalent to 31 football fields).

Learn more at https://www.skillsusa.org/.