At the May 5 awards ceremony concluding the 15th annual Ontario Technological Skills Competition (OTSC), students from Conestoga College earned a total of ten medals for their technical and problem-solving skills in competition categories. Five students won gold medals, four won silver and one earned a bronze.
The event, sponsored by Skills Canada - Ontario, took place May 3 - 4 at RIM Park in Waterloo. It involved more than 900 secondary and postsecondary participants in more than 30 competition categories and attracted nearly 10,000 visitors. The awards ceremony took place at Kitchener's Bingemans Conference Centre.
Conestoga has participated in the OTSC for the past 13 years, and Conestoga students have earned a grand total of 117 medals - the most of any Ontario college.
All five Conestoga College gold medal winners will go on to represent Ontario at the 10th National Skills Canada Competition, taking place in Winnipeg from May 27 - 30.
Conestoga's OTSC medalists are:
Pam Bunker (Gold Medal, Architectural Computer Aided Design Drafting) - Bunker is from Gorrie, Ontario, and is a student in Conestoga's Architecture - Construction Engineering Technology program at the Doon campus in Kitchener.
Joseph Couchman (Silver Medal, Industrial Mechanic Millwright) - Couchman is from Stratford and is a student in the Industrial Mechanic (Millwright) apprenticeship program at Conestoga's campus in Guelph.
Linda Elliott (Bronze Medal, Electronics) - Elliott, a student in Computer Engineering Technology at Doon, is from Waterloo.
Terrence Gill (Gold Medal, Industrial Mechanic Millwright) - Gill is from Kitchener and is a student in the Industrial Mechanic (Millwright) apprenticeship program at Conestoga's Guelph campus.
Jeff Graham (Silver Medal, Heating Systems Technician) - Graham is from Waterloo and is a student in the Gas Technician program at Doon.
Frieder Laepple (Gold Medal, Automotive Service Technology) - Laepple is in the Automotive Service Technician apprenticeship program at the Guelph campus and is from Petersburg, Ontario.
Jason Lafortune (Gold Medal, Cabinetmaking) - A student in the Woodworking Technology program at Doon, Lafortune is from Garson, Ontario.
Chris Rees (Silver Medal, Mechanical Computer Aided Design Drafting) - Rees is from Cambridge and is a student at Doon in the Mechanical Engineering Technology - Robotics and Automation program.
Ben VanDorp (Gold Medal, Welding) - VanDorp is from Egbert, Ontario, and is a student at the Guelph campus in the Manufacturing Engineering Technology - Welding and Robotics program.
Clayton Warner (Silver Medal, Architectural Computer Aided Design Drafting) - Warner is from Lynden, Ontario, and is a student in the Architecture - Construction Engineering Technology program at the Doon campus.
There is another dimension to Conestoga's record of success at the 15th
OTSC.
Each year, Skills Canada - Ontario sponsors a provincial competition to create designs for three key items: the lapel pins given as mementos to entrants, faculty supervisors, advisors and sponsors; the promotional poster that is sent to Ontario elementary schools, secondary schools and colleges; and the medals given to the outstanding OTSC competitors at the gold, silver and bronze level.
For OTSC 2004, the winners of all three design competitions are second-year students in Conestoga's Graphic Design program at the Doon campus in Kitchener.
Michael Blaine of Waterloo won the poster competition, which drew a total of 66 entries.
Aniko Loci of Guelph won the pin competition, which drew 129 entries.
Chad Krulicki of Kitchener won the medal design competition, which drew 54 entries.
CONTACT: Tom Franks, 519-748-5220, ext. 3800, tfranks@conestogac.on.ca regarding Conestoga's entries in the technical events; Myron Shwadchuck, 519-748-5220, ext. 3432, mshwadchuck@conestogac.on.ca regarding the graphics program.