ARLINGTON, Va. - North American Technician Excellence (NATE) is sponsoring the eighth annual Certified Technician Competition at Comfortech 2007, St. Louis, Sept. 27-28. Seven HVAC technicians will compete for the title of Top Tech 2007 as they diagnose and solve residential heating and cooling problems on equipment and simulators in the exhibition area.

The 2007 finalists were selected from thousands of HVAC technicians who took the NATE exam in 2006. Semifinalists are technicians who took the NATE test in 2006 and scored in the top 1 percent of the 20,000 tests given. Over 200 semifinalists were identified. From these, seven regional high-scorers were chosen as finalists to compete.

The 2007 NATE Top Tech finalists are: James Wargo, Air Group, Whippany, N.J.; Wayne Pendergast, G.M. Hobart Co., Montpelier, Va.; Kenneth Delcore, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Green Bay, Wis.; James Garrett, Barbosa Mechanical, Dallas; Jonathan Small, Right Way Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning, Sedoro Woolley, Wash.; James Moore, Moore Heating & Air Conditioning, Aurora, Colo.; and Robert Pietrangelo, Comfort Solution, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.

The seven competitors will compete in timed events to diagnose problems. Each contestant has a maximum of 20 minutes to correctly diagnose a problem on a simulator or a unit with a built-in problem. The contestant with the most correct answers wins. In the event of a tie, the technician with the fastest time wins.

Corporate sponsors of the competition include Service Experts and Lennox Industries. The Eastern Heating and Cooling Council, N.J., will also recognize the winner with an additional award.

Publication date: 04/16/2007