Edison students shine in auto competition

Every year, the best and brightest automotive education students from New York City, Long Island, Westchester and Rockland Counties compete in the downstate finals of the National Automotive Technology Competition (NATC).

This year, area schools sent their two-student teams to the Center for Automotive Education & Training at 15-30 Petracca Place in Whitestone, for a chance to represent greater New York in the NATC finals at the New York International Automobile Show in April. Each team is supported by their teacher, school, and a local area franchised new car dealer.

The competition, devised and underwritten by the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association (GNYADA), is endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The contests take place in two stages. First, each team is assigned a new car that is rigged with multiple computer and mechanical malfunctions. The student team must then diagnose and repair the “bugs” within two hours.

Next, the students’ theoretical knowledge is tested through a series of challenging one-hour workstation tests especially prepared by Snap-on, Hunter Engineering, Megatech, and the EPA.

At the match-up on Tuesday, February 10, the team from Thomas Edison High School placed third in the intensive competition lasting from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Shown here are (from left to right) GNYADA chairman Brian Miller, owner of Manhattan Motorcars; the Edison High team of Jai Sukhnandan and Jason Harrinandan, with medals and prize tools, and GNYADA Education Committee Sheila Meyer, owner of Meyer Chevrolet in Middle Village.