HUTCHINSON, Kan. – All five students from Hutchinson Community College who attended the National SkillsUSA Contest in Louisville, KY. earlier this month earned top ten finishes in their respective competitions, including a national gold medal.

Those qualifying for this honor were Nick White of Salina and Tyler Sisseck of Hugoton in Mechatronics, Shelby Horton of Colton, CA competing in the Photography contest and the team of Heather Sykes of Mt. Hope and Daniel DeBolt of Wichita competing in Web Design.

The Mechatronics team of White and Sisseck won a national gold medal. Mechatronics requires contestants to understand this new industrial discipline, which is the ability to understand complex systems that integrate various elements in the mechanical, fluid power, and controls domain, combined with the ability to work in a team environment with people of different areas of expertise. This competition consisted of three events designed to measure the skills required in the modern automated manufacturing environment. Contestants were required to assemble, adjust and test an automated machine system, troubleshoot and repair a faulty machine system and take a comprehensive written test.

Also competing from HutchCC were Horton who finished 9th in Photography, and the Web Design Team of Sykes and Debolt, who secured a 10th place finish.