CLEVELAND, OH – February 19, 2020 – The Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association will host its annual apprentice competition this Friday, February 21, from 7AM to 5PM at The New Century Careers Training Innovation Center. The fierce competition will test top manufacturing industry apprentices from Pittsburgh and surrounding areas.
“The event is part of NTMA Pittsburgh’s commitment to fostering and supporting the next generation of skilled American manufacturers,” said Ed Sikora, Executive Director of NTMA’s Pittsburgh Chapter. “The Pittsburgh NTMA chapter has held regional apprenticeship competitions since the early 1980s. Many previous competitors have completed their related instruction and on-the-job training, earned their registered Journey Worker papers from the PA State Department of Labor and Industry, and gone on to enjoy high-skill and highly paid manufacturing careers.”
During the competition, participants will face off in three challenges – one written examination and two hands-on projects. They must use their knowledge to interpret blueprints and execute one manual lathe and one manual mill project, producing as many of the part features as they can within a maximum of four hours of work per project.
“The apprenticeship competition is an important way for New Century Careers and the Pittsburgh Chapter of NTMA to recognize and celebrate the hard work of local manufacturing apprentices,” said Liz Blashock, project assistant at New Century Careers. “The participants in the competition are representative of the critical thinking and technical skills needed for continued American leadership in the manufacturing sector.”
New Century Careers and NTMA Pittsburgh work together year-round to provide a proven metalworking apprenticeship related instruction program. The Apprenticeship Program is designed to provide related instruction classes to support on-the-job training provided by employers. Learn more about the Apprenticeship Program here.