Assabet Students Earn Bronze at National Competition

From Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School:

Facing a tough slate of 25 other teams that represented Gold medal winners in their own home states, the Assabet Valley team of Corey Daly and John Garcia, both from Marlborough, were thrilled to be on the dais as they had the Bronze medals given to them. The students are both in the Drafting and Design program at Assabet Valley, and were competing in the SkillsUSA national competition in Louisville, Kentucky, in Additive Manufacturing. Unlike making an item in a precision machine shop, where material is cut away from an initial block of metal or Lexan, (subtractive manufacturing), in Additive Manufacturing, through the use of 3D printing, items are made by adding layer upon layer of filament until the item is complete.

“There were a couple of parts to it. We had to design a pin for the competition next year, and then we had two days to design a catapult, model it, test it, and make changes, and there were certain restrictions on width, height, the material used, etc.,” explained Daly. “There were also two steps to actually judging the catapult, too. It had to be able to shoot ten feet, but it also was tested for accuracy, because it had to land in a band on the target, and there were also a couple of written tests, “added Garcia.

When asked if they felt sufficiently prepared for the event, both students laughed and said they would study harder next year for the written portion, but felt that the CAD curriculum in Drafting certainly was beneficial, as was using 3D printers in their engineering courses. Daly even has his own 3D printer at home.

Lessons learned this year, competing as juniors, were to be better prepared, make sure the uniform is proper, (and that means remembering the safety glasses!), study harder, and believe in themselves. Are they planning on a return trip next year? “Oh, yeah! We are going for Gold,” they responded in unison.

This trip was quite lucrative for the students, as they each won full tuition scholarships to Lincoln Tech, $500 scholarships to any other college of their choosing, Best Buy gift cards, and other smaller items and keepsakes.

Daly, aside from SkillsUSA, also plays baseball, runs cross country, is on the Principal’s Leadership team, and National Honor Society. Garcia plays lacrosse, is part of AV Sliders, and currently has a co-op job working at Ruland Manufacturing CO., Inc., in Marlborough.

Photo via Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School: Just back from Louisville, Kentucky for the SkillsUSA national competition, John Garcia and Corey Daly, both from Marlborough, proudly wear their Bronze medals, having placed third in the nation in Additive Manufacturing (3D printing).