Bloomfield Auto Repair School Holds Scholarship Competition

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of Universal Technical Institute. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site.

Universal Technical Institute’s (UTI) Bloomfield campus welcomed high school students from New Jersey and New York to compete for up to $300,000 in scholarships using in-demand automotive technology skills and knowledge. Two students from Wayne Valley High School walked away with the grand prize: full UTI scholarships.

At the event, 18 two-person teams from high school vocational and automotive programs went head-to-head at the campus over the course of two Saturdays for UTI Bloomfield’s Top Tech Challenge. The teams competed in both hands-on and written tests on vehicle parts, engines, diagnostics, and electrical systems using Bloomfield’s state-of-the-industry facility and equipment. Each student placing on a top 6 team won a scholarship, ranging from 100 percent of tuition for first place to 25 percent of tuition for 4th through 6th place finishes.

Students Ryan McVeigh and James Lee received a winning team trophy on behalf of Wayne Valley High School, in Wayne, New Jersey, by demonstrating know-how, technical skill, and expertise and in all competitive areas. Both can now to advance their skill sets by investing up to $50,000 in scholarships, depending on their chosen field of study, at any one of Universal Technical Institute’s 12 campuses nationwide.

“It is incredibly valuable for high school students to have the opportunity to develop these skills in automotive technology, and we always look forward to celebrating their achievements,” said UTI Bloomfield President Shawn Alexander. “Our campuses have been hosting the Top Tech Challenge competition for more than a decade now, and we’re always impressed by students’ breadth and depth of knowledge. We have more than 30 leading manufacturer partners and thousands of local employers who look to UTI to train the next generation of technicians, and this is a great way for us to encourage and reward students’ interest in the automotive and transportation industry.”

Jacob Kiesling and Nicholas Austin of Warren County Technical School in Washington, New Jersey, finished second, walking away with up to $38,000 in scholarships. Eliar Echavarria and David Azcona of Passaic County Technical Institute in Passaic, New Jersey, came in third, winning up to $25,000 in scholarships. The three top teams also won tool kits worth thousands of dollars to take back to their schools for use in classroom instruction.

The automotive industry needs highly trained professionals due to growth and retirements from the trade. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projections, the transportation industry will have to fill more than 61,000 service technician and mechanic job openings annually on average through 2029.

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