Sheridan Apprentices Excel at Ontario Skills Competition

Sheridan apprenticeship students brought home gold and bronze medals

For Immediate Release: May 12, 2011
Oakville, Ontario

Sheridan apprenticeship students brought home gold and bronze medals from the 22nd Ontario Technological Skills Competition held in Waterloo last week. Ray Ropan won Gold, while Chris Corcoran took Bronze in the Industrial Mechanic Millwright Competition.



Ray Ropan works on the mechanical alignment exercise

The competition took more than 7 hours to complete, and involved three disciplines: machining, mechanic alignment and pneumatics. Among other tasks, the competitors machined a shaft, and aligned mechanical equipment (a pump and a motor) to tolerances within one thousand of an inch, or in layman’s terms a third of the thickness of a human hair. Then they built a pneumatic sequential cascade circuit similar to that commonly used in today’s manufacturing environments.



Chris Corcoran completes the pneumatics exercise

“The level of competition at this year’s event was excellent, with the final outcome for medals coming right down to the wire”, said Sheridan Professor, Craig Brazil, one of the IMM contest organizers. “Ray and Chris did an excellent job staying focused, on task and performing consistently throughout the day in each discipline with unfamiliar equipment and surroundings. Because of this they were both able to make the podium,” he added.

Ropan now moves on to the Skills Canada National Competition taking place in Quebec City in early June.  He will represent Ontario in the Industrial Mechanic Millwright competition.