Two automotive technician students from St. Brother Andre Catholic High School prevailed over 17 other Toronto-area high school teams to win a high-octane skills competition at the Canadian International AutoShow.
Christopher Giuga and David Vecchiarelli performed a number of timed technical tasks and worked on a new Volkswagen Tiguan that had been rigged with a no-start condition by automotive instructors from Centennial College. It’s the second consecutive year that a team from the Markham, Ontario, school won the big trophy.
By finishing first, the pair will be representing Canada at the National Automotive Technology Competition in New York City in April. In addition to the all-expenses-paid trip, Giuga and Vecchiarelli received tools and equipment from sponsors.
Scarborough’s Woburn Collegiate finished second, thanks to the efforts of students William Chee and Rishivaran Raveendran, while Kjanseh Mohan and Thanuraj Pathmanathan from Jean Vanier Catholic Secondary School earned third place. The automotive labs at all three schools will receive a donated vehicle from General Motors Canada for training purposes.
Teacher Franco Ferrari of Woburn Collegiate earned the Gerd Reisenecker Memorial Teacher of the Year Award, named for the former Centennial College professor and TADA member. Centennial operates Canada's largest transportation technology training centre at its Ashtonbee Campus.
The 19th annual Toronto Automotive Technology Competition received outstanding support from the industry. Sponsors include: the Trillium Automobile Dealers Association (TADA), the Canadian International AutoShow,Volkswagen Canada and Toronto-area VW dealers, General Motors Canada, Snap-On Tools, Consulab, Canadian Tire, Prona Tools, Electude-Argo, Nelson Education, Pearson Education, TecMate and Centennial College.