GHS auto students win big

Grafton High School seniors Aiden Lamas and Michael Sewell won the 2024 ADAMM Technicians of Tomorrow Competition at the Greater Milwaukee International Auto Show last week.

The duo beat finalist teams from Franklin, Oak Creek, Waukesha, Elkhorn, Hartford, Mukwonago and Lake Geneva in an intense, high technology-based competition that centered around a 2024 Subaru Outback and eight ASE-based work stations.

During the competition, the Grafton team split their time to achieve two hours of work in a one-hour competition, with both techs going their own direction on the car.

After the car repair, they spent time at eight work stations dealing with electronic diagnosis, air conditioning, tire and wheel service, automotive measurement, engine mechanical performance diagnosis, rear differential and brakes.

Each competitor also had an individual job interview by human resource directors of local dealerships.

In addition to the car repair, which took 75 minutes, the duo began the day with an intense written test.

Lamas and Sewell each earned more than $5,000 worth of tools through Cornwell, Snap-On and Milwaukee Tools.

More than 100 students from southeastern Wisconsin high schools took ASE student certification tests in November to qualify for the finals. Both Lamas and Sewell scored high on the written qualification exam.

Lamas and Sewell are students in Nic Fullington’s two-hour-a-day Advanced Auto Tech class offered to seniors at Grafton High.

They practiced every week outside of class for the competition. Sommer’s Subaru in Mequon was the sponsoring dealership for the 2024 Subaru Outback and provided support through the tutelage of technicians Blad Contreras and Nate Leiterman.

This year was the first time there was a sponsoring dealership for the eight Automotive Service Excellence stations. Schmit Bros in Saukville provided help through technicians Mark Wissing, Dustin Westphal and Todd Ambroziak.

Lamas plans to attend Fox Valley Technical College for construction management and Sewell plans to attend Moraine Park Technical College to study welding in fall.

Grafton has an unmatched history of success in the ADAMM Technicians of Tomorrow Competition. This is the 22nd Grafton High team to win the competition since 1994. Many of these students now work in the automotive industry as car and truck technicians, automotive educators and as design engineers.