CHS students take second at Skills USA National Competition

“I’ve always been hands-on, my dad runs a lawn care service, he worked at … ADM. I get it through my dad,” Ramaekers said. “I don’t care to be behind a desk, just can’t do that well, it’s not my specialty.”

Cyza also said his parents were a factor in his interest in the field.

“I’ve always had an interest in manufacturing, especially because of my parents. They worked manufacturing all their lives, so I got exposure through them,” Cyza said.

From June 20-24, the pair competed at the SkillsUSA national competition for trade skills, where they placed second in the mechatronics category. SkillsUSA is a student organization that helps students develop and showcase professional skills in high school.

Every year, SkillsUSA hold a state and national competition for the various skill groups. This year, the organization held its state level conference April 7-9, at which Ramaekers and Cyza took first.

Cyza said the event are not just competitions, but a way to make connections.

“The competition wasn’t just about the competition,” Cyza said. “As a networking opportunity, it was amazing, whether you’re looking at jobs, other areas of the industry, friends or connections on a personal level.”

Mechatronics, according to Ramaekers, is a marriage of pneumatic machines and electrical controls. He gave the example of the machinery in chicken packing plants.

Cyza said that the processes of mechatronics are everywhere, in places you don’t expect.

“You don’t realize how common it is until you know how it works. Even just looking at a screen door, it’s a cylinder, it uses flow control valves,” Cyza said.

The pair said they don’t have the judging rubric back from competition organizers yet, but that the scores were largely based on completion, factoring in time on top.

“We don’t specifically know how they judge but the way I would say is ‘Do you know how?’ and ‘Can you do it on the job?’” Ramaekers said.

Ramaekers added that that willingness to learn quickly came in handy at the competition.

“For electro-pneumatics we have to build with a partner and I hadn’t worked with terminal blocks where one wire feeds multiple outputs, I had to learn it on the fly,” Ramaekers said.

The pair’s SkillsUSA sponsor, Ben Loeffelholz, said that while silver is incredible, the team is trying for gold next year.

“It’s a great learning experience. Next year we’re hoping to go even higher,” Loeffelholz said.

The first place position would offer them a chance at global competition, he added.

“If they do well enough, they can go to worlds, but not all competitions have world levels,” Loeffelholz said.

The pair practiced by building circuits given to them by their instructor, Adam Whitmore.

“We studied at CHS, where Adam Whitmore went through absolutely everything possible with us,” Ramaekers said. “He’d give us a circuit and make us build it in a time limit.”

Cyza said there were several things they practiced for but didn’t end up using.

“There’s a lot of very specific things we didn’t use a lot at nationals but practiced like calculating force and knowing the right words for stuff,” Cyza said.

Ramaekers said this kind of experience and the awards will help when he goes into the workforce. More specifically, he’s eyeing the Navy and the mechatronics applications there.

“I can do it in a lot of places. I can do two years at Central Community College and go to a jobsite right away. I want to do it in a military capacity, the Navy does a lot of this kind of stuff, a lot of ships are controlled with this stuff,” Ramaekers said.

There are many non-military applications as well, Ramaekers added, by way of programmable logic computers (PLC). 

“A lot of warships are run by PLCs, but so are a lot of things in everyday life. Power grids and traffic lights run off PLCs,” Ramaekers said.

Cyza said he will take the experience to whatever field he finds work in, but he knows he wants to work in automation.

“I really want a degree in mechatronics or mechanical engineering, automation, machining, anything that involves hydraulics and pneumatics,” Cyza said.

Cyza said the best part of mechatronics and automation for him is the ability to constantly improve the process of a machine.

“It doesn’t matter what I’m building as long as I get to build it with less interaction and make it better and faster,” Cyza said.

Additionally, Cole Hottovy competed in cabinet making and Derek Glasshoff competed in sheet metal, but neither placed at the national level.