The Northeast Community College robotics team is returning to the national playing field after a one-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two-member team of Garrett Henery and Emmanuel Soto, both from Norfolk, qualified for the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skill Championships later this month after they won gold at the Nebraska state collegiate competition this spring.

State championship competitions were held both virtually via Zoom and in person on Northeasts campus in Norfolk.

Norfolk High School students John Mann and Tyna Schmidt, who together form Team E, qualified for the national event in the same category by also collecting the gold medal at the state event.

This years competition focused on explosive ordinance disposal, which meant students created a mobile robot similar to those used by emergency service personnel, including fire, law enforcement and military, according to Richard Chrisman, Northeast information technology instructor and robotics team coach. The robot is designed to secure an area by locating, neutralizing, moving and disposing of explosive materials.

According to SkillsUSA contest guidelines, the demand for designers, skilled technicians and manufacturing employees who are fluent in mechanical design and electrical systems and highly skilled in troubleshooting and maintenance of robotic systems is projected to continue to grow.

Robotics is not the only category in which Northeast is sporting a team at the national SkillsUSA event. Northeast took the top three positions in the state collegiate internetworking competition. John Crockett was named 2021 Nebraska State SkillsUSA champion, while Jon Koehler placed second and Edgar Chavez was third.

Other gold medal winners from Northeast included Luke Hobbs for computer programming; Braxton Bargmann for technical drafting; and Lance Vie, Luke Vie, Jordan Kempf and Leonard Schaecher for broadcast news production.

The national SkillsUSA competition is typically held in Louisville, Kentucky, featuring more than 6,000 students competing in over 100 different trade, technical and leadership fields. While this years event will still be staged, it is being held virtually, with localized hands-on elements for select competitions.

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