Congratulations to Provo High School students Parker Thomas and Jimmy Hicken who took first place at the state Ford/AAA Auto Skills competition on Thursday, May 2, 2013. The competition was held at Salt Lake Community College’s Miller Campus where 10 teams tested their knowledge and skill at diagnosing a purposely bugged vehicle.
Dave Milliken, Skilled and Technical Science Sciences state specialist, was on the planning committee and attended the event. He describes the contest and the close finish. “This year’s contest was a bit more challenging due to the fact that there was a double bug. This means that there were two bugs dealing with the same problem, so when a team found one bugged part there was another one causing a similar problem to the car. The bugs could range from light bulbs for turn signals to sensors affecting the transmission.
“After 75 minutes of working on the cars, and 15 minutes left of the competition, all 10 cars were still being worked on. The bugs were tough and challenged the student’s abilities and knowledge of the vehicles. Only four vehicles were driven into final judging, the others were still on the field of competition when the contest came to an end.”
Below are the results of the competition:
1st Place – Provo High School
2nd Place – Riverton High School
3rd Place – Woods Cross High School
4th Place – Northridge High School
5th Place – Timpview High School
6th Place – Clearfield High School
7th Place – Hillcrest High School
8th Place – Davis High School
9th Place – USU Eastern High School Program
10th Place – Fremont High School
Parker and Jimmy now advance to the national finals at the Ford Motor Company Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan on June 9-12, 2013. They will compete against students from 49 other states to debug a 2013 Ford Focus SE. The team with the fewest quality-of-workmanship demerits and the best combined total score—repair time and written exam—will be the winner.

Left to right: Chris Hohnbaum, Rick Bouillon, Jimmy Hicken, Seth McVea,
Parker Thomas, Brett Baird, Jeff Broadhead, Dave Milliken
At the national competition participating students will be awarded scholarships, trophies, apparel, certificates, shop manuals, and automotive equipment. Contestants will also have the opportunity to be considered for automotive technician and other service specialist positions with Ford Motor Company dealers, AAA affiliated service facilities, and other sponsoring organizations.
UtahCTE wishes Parker and Jimmy the best as they compete for the national Ford/AAA Auto Skills title.
Related articles:
Provo High team wins Ford/AAA vehicle repair competition,
The Salt Lake Tribune, May 2, 2013
Provo High students named state’s best auto techs,
Fox13now.com, May 2, 2013
Utah’s top high school mechanics gather for automotive competition,
Deseret News, May 3, 2013
Utah’s tip high propagandize mechanics accumulate for automotive competition,
Utah News, May 3, 2013