NCC student Christian Stezelberger advances to nationals in SkillsUSA competition

Christian Stezelberger, a Walnutport native and a Northampton Community College electronics technology major, competed in the Industrial Motor Control category at SkillsUSA State Conference in Hershey on April 12. He won first place and a gold medal in the postsecondary category and will go on to compete at the national level during the 55th annual National Leadership and Skills Conference, representing NCC, in Louisville, Kentucky, in June.

SkillsUSA is a national career and technical student organization that educates those involved and offers employability skills to those studying a trade, technical and skilled service occupation.

Aside from being an electronics technology major, Stezelberger has been multi-tracking courses to progress with the electromechanical program. Having attended Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School before NCC, he knew he wanted to get into this field of study once he reached college. Stezelberger always had a passion with electricity and wanted to understand how this driving force in our society works.

“Congratulations to Christian are well-deserved. His focus and commitment to succeeding in the competition were far above average,” commented Dan Philips, professor and program manager, HVAC/R at NCC.

He revitalized the NCC Chapter of SkillsUSA Club with Philips, and is now the chapter’s president. This made him interested in attending the State Conference in April where he competed for six hours.

With the competition open to the public, he said that keeping his focus while people came to watch was the most difficult part. The competition involved control logic with a wired motor and control circuit on the wall. He felt confident in this category because of his experience with NCC courses.

At NLSC, the circuits will be energized so that judges can see that it turns on and works properly. It’s also three times larger than the circuits at the state level.

“I enjoy testing my knowledge and skills and applying that to real world situations you might see in the field,” says Stezelberger of the competitions.

As a first-year NCC student, he aspires to obtain a job in the field of industrial maintenance where he can design circuits upon graduation.