Aircraft Structures Competition in Seattle Sponsored by ATEC and CertTEC

The Aero Skills Metal Bashers Tour comes to Seattle, Friday March 31, 2017. This is the final competition of Aero Skills inaugural tour and is sponsored by ATEC (Aviation Technician Education Council) and CertTEC® (Certifying Technical Employee Competence™).

The Seattle event will be the eighth competition of the Metal Bashers Tour. This showcase-type setting raises awareness of aircraft trades opportunities and to showcase the skills of competing technicians. We invite all ATEC Conference attendees, industry, and school representatives to experience the Aero Skills challenge first hand. If you have never attended an Aero Skill Competition, discover how industry-based , peer competitiveness results in revealing the great skills and capabilities manufacturers and MROs need in their technicians . This event is open to the general public, and admission is free.

Jay Logie, President of ATG (Aircraft Technologies Group), developers of the event, said, “It’s great to have both ATEC and CertTEC® join ATG and Aviation NETWorX in sponsoring the Seattle Aero Skills venue. It is an excellent opportunity for aviation industry partners and the aero trade school community to see first hand and especially for aero trades students and journey people to compete in the Aero Skills ‘Top Gun’ competition. What’s exciting for us is having these three sponsors; ATEC, CertTEC® and NETWorX who all have common goals in education, inspiring the younger generation within the trades, and increasing awareness of careers in the world of aviation. This will ultimately support industry and themselves, all in a package that is simply a lot of fun to compete in or to watch.”

About Aero Skills Competitions

Technicians race against the clock and against each other on four skill- testing events that measure the quality, productivity, and teamwork involved in the work being performed. At each Aero Skills competition, competitors work:

1. individually for the Top Gun ‘fab and build’ title

2. in two-person teams for exhibition competition titles.

Exhibition Competitions are improv-style tasks for teams of two: the ‘Rivet Shoot’, the ‘Clean Cut’ and the ‘Out the Window’ events. These high action challenges, performed on sections of an aircraft structure, require skills to quickly and cleanly carry out fundamental aircraft structure work. All of this gives the spectators an opportunity to experience the fast pace and unique jobs, all in a short but often noisy space of time.

‘Top Gun, the main event, offers the most difficult challenge. The winning performance is judged as the best work combined with the quickest time, measured against specifically rigorous standards and strict specifications from the aerospace industry.

More about ATG and Aviation NETWorX

Aviation NETWorX, a division of ATG, features a new autonomous, heuristic work force development program. They are the industry sponsors for the Aero Skills Inaugural Tour and would like to give a shout out to technicians who are taking on the challenge across the country. Working in front of an audience for the ‘Metal Bashers Tour’ – ‘TOP GUN Tournament and Exhibition Competitions take courage. “Every one of these young techs (and of course the senior techs) made these events great and proved that it’s a fun and unique experience for all, guaranteed.”

Over forty schools have provided the initial feedback on the concept over the past couple of years, with nine schools involved in the first six events and at least three more schools to be involved in the final two events of the inaugural tour. Of the six events to date, Aero Skills has been held at two FAR Part 147 trade schools, two museums, one hotel and one in the middle of a main street.

Special thanks go to all the institutions and industry partners for their support in making the Top Gun and Exhibition inaugural tour a big success!!

Carl Washburn, the head of Greenville Technical College, Aviation Center at South Carolina Aviation and Technology Center, SCTAC stated, “The Aero Skills Tournament was a great event for the area, not only to raise awareness of the opportunity in the aerospace industry, but both the faculty and the students had a chance to network and compare notes on our programs. I’m proud to say ALL of our students who competed did so well considering the challenges; they’re all winners to me. We look forward to inviting our community at large and any challengers out for the next one”.

Ciro Hidalgo, the Principal of George T Baker Aviation Technology College in Miami said, “We really enjoyed the Aero Skills Tournament. The event gave our students a great opportunity to show their skills in aviation maintenance…everyone involved had a great time! The events were challenging but a lot of fun. It gave our students a chance to compete with other students and see how they “stacked” up to the competition. We definitely plan to return next year!”.

David Tesser, the sponsor faculty from Letourneau University in Longview Texas said, "The Aero Skills tournament was a great opportunity for our students to use what they learn in classes and labs in a “real world” type of competition. The students were able to see how their education and their career will tie together in the very near future. An added benefit to this competition is the chance for the students to work with and learn from industry professionals who are using these skills on a daily basis"

Dave Raymond, Pima Community College in Tucson Arizona, provided this feedback on the competition, “Thank you again for all your time and effort ……..The scene generally could not have been better. I felt that the stations in the contest were a great sampling of the requirements for a structures technician to maintain and master in our industry today. The rapid fire and manifolding of the project layouts made the transitions easy to follow for the contestants. The

applicants reported feeling a sense of pride and excitement to be displaying their individual skill sets; while demonstrating what their academic pursuit has taught them so far. The blueprint contained some ‘gotcha’s’ that even the seasoned veterans did not catch. Between the projects there were multiple stimulations of the peripheral and tactile sensory inputs to satisfy every type of learning style. The applicants reported that they in fact did not only compete, but they also learned additional skills by participating in the competition.” - Dave Raymond is also an Adjunct Professor, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, having campuses at Daytona Beach Florida and Prescott Arizona.

The Regional and National event schedule is soon to be announced, with details on how to get involved. Aero Skills is open to all CFR Part 147 schools, aviation museums and industry partners, and it is currently planned to start in August 2017. Applications will soon be available for any school wishing to host an event at their school in 2018. 2018 will also see the inaugural events for Mechanics and Avionics categories.

The Aero Skills Team looks forward to working with our sponsors, ATEC and CertTEC, at the Seattle ATEC Conference.

Steve Kane, Executive Director of SpaceTEC Partners Inc, parent company of CertTEC said, "We're pleased to sponsor ATG's Aero Skills Seattle competition. As a former "metal basher" myself, it's a real thrill to support the craft and Aero Skills is a perfect venue to show what these craftspeople are capable of." CertTEC, headquartered in Cape Canaveral, FL developed the Aviation Structures Technician credential, the nation's only performance certification specifically created to demonstrate a basic level of skill for aviation sheet metal mechanics.

ATG Aircraft Technologies Group specializes in providing workforce support to the heavy maintenance industry through highly skilled technicians and teams, streamlining service, standardizing and targeting, and through fixed price programs. For more about what ATG, NETWorX workforce development programs please visit: www.myATG.aero and to learn more about the Aero Skills Tournament please visit: www.myATG.aero/schools/tournaments

Contacts: David Rowe [email protected] Jay Logie [email protected] ATG and AST Office; 250-766-0734 / 888-832-6284