Student participants in the SkillsUSA competition are pictured with Roane State faculty and staff, including Guilherme Garcia (second from left), Ann Morphew, Kim Harris and George Meghabghab (far right).
May 18, 2021
By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer
The verdict is once again in, and it was expected. Roane State’s cybersecurity program, part of the community college’s Computer Information Technology curriculum, is simply the best.
And Roane State’s mechatronics program is also unsurpassed among students in Tennessee’s 13 community colleges and 27 colleges of applied technology.
For the third consecutive year, Roane State’s cybersecurity team took top honors in the annual SkillsUSA Tennessee competition, which was again held online because of the pandemic.
A second cybersecurity team from Roane State also captured the silver medal in Tennessee.
Zachary Garron and Aaron Wooten took won first place while Chase Kirkland and Jared Stratton won second. Journey Long finished just out of the running for bronze in the programming competition.
In the statewide mechatronics competition, Roane State also grabbed a first-place award. The team of Daniel Fleming and Matt Collett was the only squad that finished the event, instructor Guilherme Garcia said. Mechatronics is the technology that combines electronics and mechanical engineering.
Addy Musser, a student at Roane State’s Cumberland County campus, won the silver award in the prepared speech category titled “Empowered to Succeed.” She was coached by faculty member Ann Morphew. Addy, in her first year at Roane State, described how she coped with the death of an older brother in her prepared speech.
The students were later honored by Roane State faculty and staff members in a program on the Oak Ridge Branch Campus. The statewide virtual awards ceremony was viewed by Roane State faculty and staff members.
SkillsUSA is a national membership association serving high school, college and middle school students preparing for careers in technical, trade and skilled service occupations.
Students in Tennessee’s Colleges of Applied Technology and Community Colleges competed in a large assortment of workforce skills, from computer networking to cosmetology.
Roane State’s cybersecurity program, led by Dr. George Meghabghab, who oversees the college’s Computer Information Technology program, has become a SkillsUSA dynasty.
In 2019, both the cybersecurity and programing teams won the gold medals statewide and the bronze medals nationally.
In 2020’s online SkillsUSA competition, Roane State’s cybersecurity team also won first place.
Meghabghab praised his students’ dedication. “They take pride in everything they do,” he said.
Roane State Community College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, ethnicity or national origin, sex, disability, age, status as protected veteran or any other class protected by Federal or State laws and regulation and by Tennessee board of Regents policies with respect to employment, programs, and activities. View full non-discrimination policy.
