VHS Auto Tech Team Places 3rd in the Nation at Skills USA

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More than 1,200 hours of labor on a working internal combustion engine display by three Vineland High School auto technology students was the third best project in the nation at last week’s Skills USA competition in Kansas City, MO, said Louis Bramante, VHS program coordinator.

The three students are Nathan Sirawatka, Isidro Rodriguez and Jonathan Cruz. Sirawatka and Rodriguez graduated on June 18. Cruz is a sophomore.

“For these young men, I feel great,” said Bramante. “Vineland High School is right out there in front of the entire country because of their talent and the support from our school, the community, and industry. It is a great honor and people from other schools and colleges have now seen their work.”

“The competition was very rigorous,” said Bramante. “But it was a great experience for the students – a lot of excitement – and we learned a lot. Our students worked very hard to get to that spot, and they also had a chance to meet talented students from all over the country. Kansas City is a fantastic city and overall it was a great experience for our students.”

The trio qualified for the national competition by winning gold medals in the Tech Prep portion of the New Jersey Skills USA competition, said Bramante. The students disassembled a donated engine from KIA and created a display that showed the internal function of the machine using belts, chains, light emitting diodes to simulate ignition and compressed air to show the exhaust cycle.

The display is a fully functioning exploded version of the engine that simulates the actual processes that occur inside an internal combustion engine. The display runs at 11 revolutions per minute, slow enough so viewers can see each of the processes.

The impressive display attracted the attention of George Arrants, of Automotive Youth Education Services (AYES), said Bramante. “He (Arrants) stopped by to see the display and spoke to our students. He invited us to have the project shipped to the AYES national conference in Detroit on July 17.” Bramante the display was packed in Kansas City and shipped directly to Detroit, and Bramante will be there to explain the display and answer questions.

Sirawatka did most of the welding and fabricating on the project, said Bramante. He will attend Universal Technical Institute (UTI) in Exton, PA, for advanced automotive training in the fall and then go on to dealership employment. Rodriguez did fabrication and painting and electrical work on the project. He is off to the University of Northwestern Ohio in pursuit of an associate’s degree in auto technology. Cruz, the only underclassman, worked on parts prep, fabrication and building the display.

Sirawatka said placing in the top five, “feels great. I think our display was valuable because not many people understand how an internal combustion engine operates in a car.”

Cruz, the only returning member of the team, said the display would be used at the school’s club night to get more involvement in the auto tech program. “I feel that I can use the experience I gained this year to help my classmates –showing them what to do and what to avoid,” he said. “Hopefully, we will create a great project and go to nationals again. I would like to create an alternative fuel vehicle with a tubular chassis and possibly drive it (to Skills USA).”

“It took a lot of work,” said Rodriguez. “And a lot of other people in the classroom helped us. It was stressful, but we made it to the nationals. Just the fact that we made it there was really great. No one intended to go to the nationals. We just did our best – like we did at the state (competition). I think we did the class proud – and exceeded our own expectations.”

While pleased with the week’s events, Bramante has set his sights higher. “We now have the insight to do better,” he said. “We thought we had it (the competition) mastered, but we fell short on ‘community value’. In the future, we must take our displays to other schools, dealerships, and in the community to educate people and show people how automotive technology will improve their lives.”

In speaking with advisors from other states, Bramante learned more about how this area is judged than was known prior to the competition.

“We are going to focus on how to educate the common person on alternate fuel and usage,” said Bramante. “In September we will sketch out the ideas. This is a student-driven club, and they must parlay their ideas into sketches and their sketches into reality. It evolves as we go. It will be an exciting year. We hope for larger membership this year.”

In all, more than 3,000 high school students and 1,000 from colleges across the nation competed in Skills USA.

The trip was made possible through more than $5,500 in donations from local industry, said Bramante. “KIA of North America has been a large supporter, covering air fare, providing some nice clothes to wear and backpacks,” said Bramante. “RK Chevrolet and Auto Group helped with air fare and food costs. We are also very grateful to teachers and staff at the school who donated to the cause. Without everyone’s help and support, this could not have happened.”

Bramante said the last $550, which covered the cost of shipping the display to Kansas City, was donated by Anthony Fanucci, a local businessman who is also a Vineland Board of Education member.