Competition was intense in the HRAI Heating System Technician Skills Competition – for two of the three days anyway – at CMPX 2016 in Toronto March 16-18.
High school students competed the first day, apprentices competed on the second day and, on the third day, the old hands were invited to come up and show the young people how it’s done in the Master’s Challenge.
Well, maybe we’ve got that backwards. “The Master’s Challenge is more of a fun event for visitors to the show, so it is not as complex as the secondary and post-secondary skills competitions,” explained HRAI’s Alexandra (Alex) Wennberg, event co-ordinator.
Students competed at work stations built by HRAI contractor members. The post-secondary competition for apprentices was the most challenging, with competitors essentially installing a heating system from scratch and firing it up.
Spring Break limited the number of competitors in the secondary school competition – all four made the drive in from College Avenue Secondary School in Woodstock.
The winners in the three divisions were as follows:
Secondary Competition
First – Taylor Benton, College Avenue Secondary School, Woodstock
Second – William Inveraity, College Avenue
Third – Mark Jentz, College Avenue
Post-Secondary Competition
First – Nigel Degroot, George Brown College
Second – Kody Allison, Fanshawe College
Third – Matthew Francioni, George Brown College
Master’s Challenge
First – Dan Rietveld, B.R.’s Plumbing & Heating, Tillsonburg
Second – Howard Smith, CFB Trenton
Third – Tanner Chapman, B.R.’s Plumbing & Heating