(MARSHALL, Texas) – Texas State Technical College’s Marshall campus hosted its third annual Car Show on June 21, and some of the college’s students and instructors designed and manufactured the five trophies that were awarded at the event.
Brendan Hills, a TSTC Precision Machining Technology student, said he teamed up with a fellow classmate to construct an upper portion of four of the trophies using box-end wrenches. The duo milled grooves and drilled holes in the wrenches to form an X that could be riveted together.
“Normally we deal with pretty soft materials, and in this particular case, that definitely was the hardest material we’ve ever dealt with,” Hills said. “The bigger challenge was trying to adapt to using the same tools that we’ve always used and the same inserts, but on a totally different material.”
TSTC Welding Technology student Mason Prewitt said he jumped at the opportunity to weld the bases of each trophy. He said it felt good to take a break from his coursework and try something new.
“I liked the challenge of having to fabricate something more intricate,” Prewitt said.
One of the project’s leaders was Suzy Kirkpatrick, a Drafting and Design instructor at the Marshall campus. She herself printed three-dimensional models of slick and off-road tires and their rims for four of the trophies, which included creating one of the rim designs from scratch.
“It was nice to bring us together to work on this to show that whatever challenge they give us we can come out on top and do a really good job,” Kirkpatrick said. “I’m happy to do things for the school to showcase what we can do and what our students can do once they get their degrees.”
Lindale resident Henry J. Reid entered his 1939 Diamond T pickup truck but said he never expected to win Best of Show.
“What was more rewarding was the hand-built trophy,” he said. “That’s very special to me.”
Registration for TSTC’s fall semester is underway. For more information, go to tstc.edu.