McHenry County College (MCC) welcomed 94 high school students on Friday, March 7 for the annual Illinois Design Educators Association (IDEA) Competition. The students represented six local high schools, including Barrington, Hampshire, Huntley, Marengo, McHenry, and Prairie Ridge.
The competition tests students’ skills in a mix of traditional hand drafting and digital 2D and 3D computer aided design (CAD), divided into nine divisions/exams. Each submission is evaluated by a team of qualified judges from the local architectural and engineering design community.
“This competition is a great opportunity for our local high school students to showcase their skills in creating technical drawings and working through design problems,” said Bob Mihelich, AIA, NCARB, who serves as the regional competition director and full-time faculty of applied technology at MCC. ‘It also allows them to learn about the many opportunities available at MCC post high school graduation. The College has so much to offer for those looking to get started in a design-related career where they learn skills to directly enter the workforce or transfer to four-year institutions to complete their education.”
Students enrolled in high school dual credit CAD classes are selected to participate in the competition by their high school instructors.
The winners of each category, listed in order of first to third place, included:
“Our judges commented on how difficult it was to parse out the winners of each respective division, which is a testament to the skill being taught by our local high school instructors,” said Mihelich.
Students who placed first or second are automatically qualified to compete in the state competition held at Illinois State University in April. The winners from each category were also entered into a drawing for a $415 scholarship, with Caleb Caldwell from McHenry High School was selected as the winner.
The competition took place in MCC’s new Foglia Center for Advanced Technology and Innovation (CATI), which provides training in Architectural and Engineering Design Technology, Precision Machining, Engineering Technology, and more. Find more about the skilled trade programs available at MCC here.