UVU ties for first at SkillsUSA National Competition
Utah Valley University students tied for first place at the national SkillsUSA Championships held in Atlanta last week.
The 2022 SkillsUSA Championships consisted of over 6,500 students from all over the U.S. and Puerto Rico, competing in over 100 categories ranging from commercial banking and cybersecurity to audio/radio production.
Overall ranking at the SkillsUSA Championships is determined by the total number of medals earned by a team during the competition. To secure their win, the UVU team took home five national championship gold medals, three silver and one bronze.
This success is not at all out of the ordinary for UVU. Over the past 21 years, the university’s team has consistently been ranked among the top 5 in the nation at the SkillsUSA Championships.
“Our continued success at SkillsUSA speaks volumes about the quality of students, faculty, curriculum, and state-of-the-art programs we have at UVU,” Darin Taylor, UVU SkillsUSA Director and professor of engineering design technology said in a press release. “Winning a national medal at SkillsUSA brings validation that we are teaching up-to-date methods and techniques. Our students know they are some of the best in the nation and are going to be productive on their very first day on the job. They will also become the leaders and experts in their respective fields of study.”
The UVU 2022 SkillsUSA national champions are:
- Lindsey Barker, Architectural Drafting (Gold)
- Brigg Edwards, Cabinetry & Architectural Woodwork (Gold)
- Alex Marcum & Joseph Walker, Mechatronics Team (Gold)
- Laura Richardson, Technical Drafting (Gold)
- Ashton Young, Computer Programming (Silver)
- Paul Christensen, Firefighting (Silver)
- Dan Edlund & Toria Edwards van Muijen, Robotics & Automation Technology Team (Silver)
- Benjamin Collier & Dallin Hansen, Additive Manufacturing Team (Bronze)
Beginning in 1967, the SkillsUSA Championships is the nation’s largest hands-on workforce development event for middle-school, high-school, and college/postsecondary students enrolled in career and technical education programs. Overall, the event costs an estimated $36 million to host each year and is considered the largest skills competition in the world.