June 4, 2015—Chief Automotive Technologies will sponsor the Collision Repair Technology (CRT) Championship at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference for the 29th consecutive year.
The CRT is one of 100 competitions held in a variety of technical, trade and leadership disciplines at the conference, which takes place June 22-26 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville.
“SkillsUSA brings thousands of high school and college students from across the country together to demonstrate their knowledge and learn from each other,” says Richard Perry, OEM and strategic account sales manager for Chief. “Many of these students will begin their careers in our industry over the next few years, so it is important that we provide them with the best possible resources during their training.”
For the CRT competition, Chief will supply an impulse E/VHT frame rack, LaserLock Live Mapping system and simulators. A collision-damaged vehicle will be loaded on the frame rack and contestants will use the equipment to demonstrate their damage analysis skills.
The competition will also have segments for metal straightening, welding, and plastic repair. The students will be judged on the overall appearance of the finished repair, the speed of work and their adherence to safety practices.
Representatives from Chief are part of the CRT committee, which helped develop the written estimating and structural analysis tests that will be administered to contestants. The volunteer committee includes:
- Richard Perry, OEM and strategic sales manager for CHIEF
- Ken Soupene, Chief University Instructor
- Mike Croker of Chief distributor Automotive Technology, Inc.
- Tom Beachem and John Ressler of Nationwide Insurance
- Marty Hettle, retired
- Bob Keith, of CARSTAR
The CRT Championship’s winning college and high school students will each receive free registration for any upcoming Chief University course of their choice. Most of the courses are approved for I-CAR credit hours through the I-CAR Industry Training Alliance program. Chief training has also been certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) for compliance with Continuing Automotive Service Education (CASE) Standards.
For more information, visit the SkillsUSA website.
