Students put their skills to the ultimate test at Skills Ontario Competition
At a glance
- In May, top elementary, secondary, and post-secondary students set out to demonstrate their best in the Skills Ontario Competition held in Toronto.
- A wide variety of skills were showcased, including millwrighting, robotics, welding, coding, and construction.
- The annual competition is important to promoting and growing Ontario’s skilled trades and technical workforce, which is vital to supporting important infrastructure projects, including new clean energy initiatives needed to electrify life.
From her vantage point, Brennan Buchmann had a great view of the gears, brains, and teamwork needed to make an excellent robot.
As the official announcer for the robotics contest at the 2024 Skills Ontario Competition, Buchmann marveled at the impressive remote-controlled machines Ontario’s brightest secondary students put together for the annual competition.
“It’s just been very cool to see all the teamwork and how quickly teams have been able to adapt and adjust their robots on the fly,” said Buchmann, a Grade 10 student volunteer from Kirkland Lake District Composite School in northern Ontario. With a passion for public speaking, she attended the event in Toronto along with the school’s robotics team to take on emceeing duties, which include announcing the rules, countdowns, and reminders for participants.
“I’ve seen that the most successful teams have incorporated fans or air suction in their design to separate the balls during the games,” said Buchmann, who had a front-row view as teams of four put their contraptions to the test over 10 rounds of games, which saw robots pulling pegs to drop balls that would then be collected and deposited in a designated area.
Held over two and a half days in early May, the annual Skills Ontario Competition brought together the province’s top elementary, secondary, and post-secondary students to prove they are the best in their field. From contests in pipefitting, photography, culinary arts, coding, and welding, there were a wide variety of skilled trades and professions on display.
It’s just been very cool to see all the teamwork and how quickly teams have been able to adapt and adjust their robots on the fly.Brennan BuchmannStudent volunteer at Skills Ontario Competition
Winners were awarded with gold, silver, or bronze medals, and the opportunity to compete on the national stage at the Skills Canada National Competition.
In addition to contests, the Skills Ontario Competition also featured a Career Exploration Showcase, the Young Women’s Conference, the First Nations, Métis and Inuit Conference, and exhibits from many Ontario colleges and industry representatives, including OPG, a premium sponsor for the event.
Since 1989, Skills Ontario has worked to build the province’s skilled trades and technologies workforce. It’s a mandate that is only growing in importance as OPG works to build more clean energy projects to electrify life in one generation, which will require more skilled trades.
Some of the youngsters who might help build that future were hard at work constructing their best wind turbine designs in the Green Energy Challenge on day one of the competition.
Over just six hours, teams of Grade 7 and 8 students sketched out their designs on paper before cutting, drilling, and constructing a working wind turbine model, complete with a gearbox and motor.
While building, teams tested their hand-made turbine to measure how much electricity it could generate, without falling apart.
“It has been a great experience for these students,” said Chris Tucker, one of the contest judges and a construction technology teacher. “Every team came equipped with their own equipment and were excited to get going.”
As teams propped up their creations in the testing chamber, there was an air of genuine excitement – both from the students and the judges.
As the plastic blades spun freely and the model stayed intact, there were plenty of high fives and smiles to go around.
Mission accomplished.
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