High School Students Compete For Scholarship Money at the 2010 SEMA Show

Nov 16, 2010

First Place: Team Auto Meter, Loara High School, Anaheim, CA. Each member of Team Auto Meter receives $30,000 in scholarship money from supporting automotive schools.

In the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge, students compete to tear down and reassemble high performance engines.

Second Place: Team ARP, East Ridge High School, Chattanooga, TN. Each member of Team ARP receives $25,000 in scholarship money from supporting automotive schools.

Ask a high school student how much they know about their car, and you might hear answers like how to put gas in the gas tank, what kind of mileage their car gets, and you might even find one or two who know how to check the engine oil level or know what the correct pressure is for their tires. But for most students, the opportunity to learn technical information about how their car works just doesn't exist in many high schools like it did a generation ago.

The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge was created in 2008 to address the declining number of skills and career-based education programs (like automotive technology) in schools today, and the impact it could have on the future of the automotive aftermarket.

Third Place: Team Edelbrock, North Orange County ROP, Anaheim, CA. Each member of Team Edelbrock receives $21,000 in scholarship money from supporting automotive schools.

Students compete in teams of 5 to completely tear down a fully assembled high performance engine, and then completely reassemble it to "ready to run" condition, in the shortest amount of time.

Students are in a race against the clock and also the other team to correctly disassemble the engine.

Time penalties are awarded for poor sportsmanship, incorrect fastener torque, dropped tools, and other assembly mistakes, and add on to the teams' overall completion times. Students from the winning teams are awarded scholarships to Ohio Technical College, the University of Northwestern Ohio, and the School of Automotive Machinists, which are some of the most prestigious schools in the automotive industry.

In its third year, the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge has seen tremendous growth in school participation and industry support. The contest has grown from the five original participant schools in 2008, to 8 regional divisions across the United States, and a final National Showdown at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. Many companies in the automotive aftermarket industry, including K&N, Auto Meter, MSD Ignition, ARP Fasteners, Painless Performance Products, Comp Cams, Magnaflow Exhaust, and many others sponsor and support the Hot Rodders of Tomorrow program.

Each engine must be reassembled to "ready to run" condition.

"The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge is a great way to get students energized about cars because it's highly competitive, requires teamwork and cooperation, good communication skills, an excellent memory, all skills these students will need when trying to find a job or choose a career," said Steve Gibson, Program Coordinator for Educational Programs at K&N Engineering. According to Gibson, "Sponsoring the competition is also a great way for companies to show students some of the career possibilities which exist in the automotive aftermarket. If we didn't energize younger people and open their eyes to the career possibilities that are out there, our industry would eventually die. At K&N, we are proud to be involved with the challenge and are all geared up to do it again next year!"

Congratulations to the top three teams in the 2010 Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge!

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

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