EAST NORITON, PA — Matthew Hood and Matthew Levesque, both students at the Middle Bucks Institute of Technology, have captured first place in the 32nd annual Greater Philadelphia Auto Technology Competition held earlier this month.

Twenty-four area high school seniors put their automotive skills to the test in this year’s hands-on technician skills challenge, competing for more than $1 million in scholarships and prizes. The competition is organized by the Auto Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia.

Hood, a senior at Central Bucks East, and Levesque, a senior at Central Bucks West, walked away with more than $290,000 in scholarships and prizes collectively. They were led by their instructor, Rob Schwarz, and were sponsored in the competition by Keystone Volvo Cars of Doylestown.

During the timed, hands‐on automotive technical skills competition, students tested their knowledge at 10 workstations and performed a Multi‐Point Inspection of a new vehicle.

Matthew Hood and Matthew Levesque with their first place trophies. (MBIT)

Matthew Hood and Matthew Levesque competing in the challenge. (MBIT)

“Today’s auto technicians must have highly‐polished math and computer skills in addition to mechanical aptitude. The competition focuses on all those skill sets,” said competition directors.

The first part of the regional competition involved a written exam last January at the Philadelphia Auto Show. The exam covered electric vehicle safety and the eight National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) areas of the automobile, which are engine repair, engine performance, electrical/electronic systems, brakes, heating and air conditioning, suspension and steering, manual drive train and axles and automatic transmissions.

There were more than 100 students from the Greater Philadelphia Region who took the written exam. The two highest-scoring students from the top 12 schools qualified for the hands‐on portion of the competition.