By DALE FORTON.
The 2012 Fourth Annual Southwest Regional PAMA Olympics is scheduled for March 31 in Fort Worth at Tarrant County College’s Northwest Campus starting at 8 a.m. All of the 147 schools in the Southwest Region have been invited.
The first Olympics was held at a PAMA National Symposium at the American Airlines Center, but was fully sponsored by Tarrant County College’s Aviation Department with assistance from the aviation department at Skyline High School in Dallas. It has been held in the hangar at TCC thereafter.
There are 12 laboratory projects to be completed by each of the team members showing their skills and knowledge. Each laboratory will last 20 minutes with a five-minute break between laboratories.
Last year LeTourneau University won the overall competition and took the rotating trophy to their school to display until the 2012 competition. The overall winner (total team points) in March 2012 will take the trophy back to their school for display until the 2013 competition. There is another trophy that the first place school receives that stays at the school. In addition to the overall team winner, there is a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd individual winner who will receive a plaque, along with a gift from our sponsor, Snap-On Tools.
This year there is an Aviall Super Seminar being held at the same time (albeit independent) that will allow our Olympians to demonstrate their skills and mix with vendors and managers. PAMA National introduced the PAMA Aviation Maintenance Olympics (PAMO) in 2001 to give professionals the opportunity to demonstrate their skills. The competition is based on safety, accuracy and efficiency in defined laboratory events.