Six medals for Sheridan students at Skills Ontario competition

Sheridan students matched their best showing, bringing home six medals at the 28th-annual Skills Ontario competition held May 1 to 3 at the Toronto Congress Centre. The event – the largest skilled trade and technology competition in Canada - brought together 2,000 competitors participating in more than 67 different competitions.

Apprentices from Sheridan swept the medals in the Precision Machining competition for the second time in three years, with Daniel van Veen winning gold and moving on to represent Team Ontario at Skills Canada in Winnipeg in early June. van Veen also won the top ranked college competitor overall for Skills Ontario, the first time ever a Sheridan competitor has achieved this honour. Industrial Mechanic Millwright student Ryker Duff was recognized as the top-ranking Skills Ontario competitor representing a Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development (MAESD)-funded program. 

The team of eleven students from Sheridan also competed in CNC Machining, Web Site Development, Architectural Technology and Design, IT Office Software Application and Mechatronics. The full list of Sheridan winners includes:

Precision Machining
Daniel van Veen – Gold Medal
Christian Begin – Silver Medal
Randy Cleveland – Bronze Medal

Industrial Mechanic Millwright
Ryker Duff – Silver Medal

Architectural Technology and Design
Hayley Perrin – Bronze Medal

Web Site Development
Yi Xiang – Silver Medal

Competitions consisted of a wide variety of tasks and challenges. “Students are required to bring their best skills and adaptability to their events,” said Dave Wackerlin, Associate Dean, School of Architectural Technology and School of Skilled Trades and Apprenticeships at Sheridan. “All of the medal winners and competitors put in a magnificent effort across the board in their respective disciplines, representing Sheridan at the highest level of competition for apprentices and post-secondary students.”

Faculty advisors Jordan Martin, Harsh Thakkar, Ann Cadger, Hooman Nabovati and Michael Reid helped prepare students for competition. Skills Ontario honours extended to Professor Brazil who was named one of two recipients of the Glenn Beatty Award for 2017. This award recognizes outstanding volunteers and Brazil has dedicated countless hours for many years as the Industrial Mechanic Millwright Contest Tech Chair at Skills Ontario, Skills Canada and Worldskills International. 

Pictured top right: Sheridan students competing at the 2017 Skills Ontario competition.