Three schools won a total of four awards for their projects in the International Woodworking Fair/WoodLINKS USA ready to assemble furniture competition at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

Madison Area Technical College, which came away with two of the four awards, took first place with Joseph Disch’s free standing shelf, while MATC’s Ambrose Hetzel tied for third with his bookshelf. Both are 2008 graduates of the MATC Cabinetmaking & Millwork program in Madison, WI, according to a release. Patrick Molzahn is the program director for that department at MATC.

Quinter High School, Quinter, KS, took second for “Slipity” a multi-use RTA project that can be configured into a number of furniture pieces, including a bookshelf and an entertainment center. Three Quinter students - Tim Roesch, Josh Simon and Brady Reed - designed and manufactured the piece. Their instructor is Brian Roesch.

Tying for third place was Harper Creek High School, Battle Creek, MI with its RTA magazine racks, according to the release. The Harper Creek students involved with the project are Tom Thurston, Brian Williams and Nathan France. Their instructor is Ralph Hermanson. Harper Creek High School was also assisted in its project by Kreg Tool and Planit Solutions, a software developer and vendor.

Winners of the IWF-WoodLINKS USA RTA Contest included two students from Madison Area Technical College, Madison, Wis. Shown are, left to right, student Ambrose Hetzel, third place; Patrick Molzahn, MATC Cabinetmaking & Millwork Program Director; and first place, student Joseph Disch.

Second place finisher in the IWF-WoodLINKS RTA Contest was Quinter High School in Quinter, Kan. Shown, left to right, are teacher Brain Roesch, and students Josh Simon, Tim Roesch and Brady Reed.

According to the release, the competition was open to WoodLINKS students from the United States and Canada. In addition to designing and manufacturing a product which could be disassembled and legally checked in on a commercial aircraft without weight or volume penalties, the  contest also required students to submit a complete marketing plan and sales strategy for their product.

 The projects were judged on concept, design, materials sourcing, production logistics, assembly instructions and a marketing plan. Also taken into account was creativity and quality, according to the release. The judges were Helen Kuhl, editor of Custom Woodworking Business; Duane Griffiths, director of Stiles Education; and Herb Meldahl, marketing director for OnSite Woodworking in Loves Park, IL.

Third place winners in the WoodLINKS USA RTA contest at IWF were students from Harper Creek High School, Battle Creek, Mich. Shown are left to right, teacher Ralph Hermanson, and students Tom Thurston, Brian Williams and Nathan France.

All winning schools received a free CAD/CAM software license from Art CAM, a division of Delcam, according to the release. Other prizes, donated by WoodLINKS Wisconsin, were: first place, a Milwaukee Tool 12-inch compound miter saw; second place, a four-piece 18-volt tool set; third place, a Hitachi 18 volt drill driver; third place, a DeWalt electric drill driver.

Cash prizes included: $1,000 for MATC; $700 for Quinter High School; and $500 for Harper Creek High School. The cash prizes, as well as expenses for airfare, hotel and other expenses were covered by IWF show exhibitors-Great Lake Woods, Inc. Original Saw Co., CCF Industries, Ex-Factory Inc., Rikon Power Tool, Vortex Tool Co. Inc., Wood Machinery Manufacturers of America and Architectural Woodwork Institute organizations- William H. Winter Scholarship and the Southern Woodwork Association Scholarship.