KATY MAGAZINE NEWS
July 14, 2021
By Natalie Cook Clark
Two Katy ISD students were named National Champions in several levels of competition in SkillsUSA Mechatronics at the 2021 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference. They showcased a design from their Miller Career and Technology manufacturing lab.
Left to Right: Daniel White & Levend Karayaka National Champions for SkillsUSA Mechatronics.
Katy Students Named National Champions
Katy students, Daniel White and Levend Karayaka were named National Champions in SkillsUSA Mechatronics. They competed in several levels at the 2021 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference.
A Fairly New Group Showing Big Success
Throughout the school year, both students competed at various levels of mechatronics (mechanical and electrical engineering) competitions, including first at region and second at the state level.
“The Katy ISD SkillsUSA chapter is a fairly new group of students who came together during the 2019-2020 school year,” says Dallas Bergstrom, MCTC Instructor of Manufacturing Engineering.
Katy ISD currently has 45 students in the group, many of which qualified at various competitions throughout the school year.
At Nationals, White and Karayaka showcased a design solution to a judge virtually from the MCTC manufacturing lab to adhere to safety protocols. During the event they were required to demonstrate a task with an automatic system setup.
Left to Right: Levend Karayaka and Daniel White at MCTC Manufacturing Lab.
Thousands of students competed in over 100 occupational and leadership skill areas at the annual event that included educational sessions as well as interaction with business, industry and government representatives.
The conference is driven by employer demand and helps students develop necessary personal and workplace skills along with technical skills grounded in academics.
SkillsUSA’s goal is to empower students to succeed at work and in life while helping to close the skills gap in which millions of industry positions go unfilled.
“I am so proud of their willingness to try something new,” says Bergstrom. “To earn a national championship on their first attempt speaks to their commitment to representing MCTC and Katy ISD.”
About Miller Career and Technology Center
Juniors and seniors at all of Katy ISD high schools are eligible to take specialized career and technology programs as well as core classes for half a day at Katy’s Miller Career and Technology Center (MCTC.) Participating students still remain part of their home campus and are eligible for extracurricular activities at their school.
MCTC offers many courses in the areas of Business and Industry, Public Service, and STEM. They are currently enrolling.
For more information, visit their website.