TechForce Foundation and SEMA Show Open Techs Rock Awards

TechForce Foundation is partnering with the SEMA Show to open nominations for the eighth annual Techs Rock Awards, as shared in a recent press release.

Each year, the Techs Rock Awards recognize standout students and working professionals in the technician field. For the second year in a row, Grand Prize recipients will be celebrated live at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

All finalists will receive a prize courtesy of Carlyle Tools. Grand Prize Winners will receive a 580-piece Carlyle Tools Master Tool Set and equipment package, including a service jack, two die grinders, and an air compressor. 

Finalists will be selected in six categories: Automotive and Motorsports; Diesel; Collision, Restoration, and Welding; Aviation, Motorcycle, and Marine; Emerging Technologies, presented by Hertz; and HVAC, Homes & Buildings, presented by Carrier.

This year’s judging panel will include well-known voices in the industry, including Mike Spagnola, CEO of SEMA and PRI; Emily Reeves, co-creator of the popular YouTube channel Flying Sparks Garage; Jim Liaw, President and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach; Melanie White, CEO of Hellwig Products and recipient of the prestigious 2018 SEMA Person of the Year award; Mike Good, President of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum; and Sean Holman, host of The Truck Show Podcast and TechForce’s own First Shift Podcast, with additional industry leaders expected to join the panel.

Nominations open June 15 and close Aug. 3. Anyone can nominate a deserving student or technician at TechForce.org/TechsRock. A panel of judges will review submissions and select the finalists. From Sept. 21 through Oct. 12, the public will vote to determine one student and one working technician as Grand Prize Winners. Both will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas to be honored on-stage during the show.

“The interest is there. The talent is there. What these technicians haven’t always had is a room full of people telling them their work matters,” said Jennifer Maher, CEO of TechForce Foundation. “That’s what the SEMA Show does. It puts the industry’s biggest spotlight on the people who keep it running; and for the students still figuring out their path, it makes the destination feel real.”