SkillsUSA Selects Welding Competitor for WorldSkills 2024

Media Contacts for SkillsUSA:
Jane Short or Karen Kitzel, 703-777-8810
Email: jshort@skillsusa.org or kkitzel@skillsusa.org

Welding student from Utah to Represent the U.S. at World Event

Leesburg, Va., March 19, 2024 — SkillsUSA has selected Wyatt Hansen of Altonah, Utah as the official competitor for Welding in the 2024 WorldSkills Competition. His technical expert is Ray Connolly of Cedar Hill, Mo. Hansen will represent the United States at the 2024 WorldSkills Competition. The prestigious international event will be held Sept. 10-15, 2024 in Lyon, France.

“The 2024 WorldSkills USA team will have an amazing opportunity to represent SkillsUSA and our nation while undergoing incredibly rigorous training in their craft,” said SkillsUSA Executive Director Chelle Travis. “These team members are making a serious commitment to both their skill development and personal growth that will foster their drive, passion and life’s purpose.”

Hansen is a welding student at Utah State University Eastern (USUE) in Price, Utah. He represented the state of Utah at the SkillsUSA Championships in 2022 and 2023 and won a national gold medal in Welding in 2023. He says, “It’s a privilege to be a part of the team and it’s an honor to represent the U.S. in Lyon, France. I’ve dreamed of being a WorldSkills competitor and now I will be. I’ve been training 15-16 hours a day, six to seven days a week for the past eight months to get where I am today. I appreciate the support of Kevin Mitchell, Rick Prather, Mason Winters, Jeremia Garcia, Austin Welch, Jake Clement, Willy Hansen, Guy Hansen and Sarah Hansen. I also thank the AWS Worldskills Competition Committee Skills Management Team of Ray Connolly, Chandler Vincent, Branden Muehlbrandt, Nick Peterson, Brian Muenchau, Martica Ventura and Ashley Applegate, as well as everyone else that has helped along the way!”

The WorldSkills USA team will compete in several trade areas in the largest international showcase of skilled trades. SkillsUSA will announce the official team sponsors and other team members and their experts over the next few months.

The 47th WorldSkills Competition in 2024 will welcome 1,500 competitors from over 65 countries and regions to take part in 62 skill competitions at Eurexpo Lyon. The competition will showcase dozens of trade skills from construction and building technology, creative arts and fashion, information and communication technology, manufacturing and engineering, social and personal services, and transportation and logistics. Over 250,000 spectators from around the world are expected attend the 2024 competition including students, public policymakers, employers, teachers, trainers, technical experts and government officials.

A student-led partnership of education and industry, SkillsUSA is America’s proud champion of the skilled trades, building the nation’s future skilled workforce by delivering graduates who are career ready, day one. SkillsUSA works year-round to instill positive attitudes, build self-esteem and empower students to excel in the career path of their choice and follow their passions. The organization has 850 national partners and is integral to the training in nearly 20,000 career and technical education classrooms.

Follow Hansen, Connolly and the rest of the 2024 WorldSkills USA team at: www.worldskillsusa.org.

About SkillsUSA

SkillsUSA is America’s proud champion of the skilled trades. It’s a student-led partnership of education and industry that’s building the skilled workforce our nation depends on with graduates who are career ready, day one. Representing nearly 380,000 career and technical education students and teachers, SkillsUSA chapters thrive in middle schools, high schools and college/postsecondary institutions nationwide. SkillsUSA’s mission empowers students to become skilled professionals, career-ready leaders and responsible community members. That mission is accomplished through the SkillsUSA Framework of Personal Skills, Workplace Skills and Technical Skills Grounded in Academics, which is integrated into the classroom curriculum. Through Framework instruction, students develop the character-shaping leadership skills — teamwork, communication, professionalism and more — that successful careers and lives demand. At the same time, students hone their high-level technical skills against current industry standards in more than 130 skilled trade areas, from 3-D Animation to Welding. The result? Focused, confident and highly skilled graduates who are ready to work, ready to lead and ready to make a difference in our schools, workplaces and communities. A vital solution to the skills gap, where more in-demand skilled trades positions are available than qualified professionals to fill them, SkillsUSA has served over 14 million difference-making members since 1965. To learn more, visit www.skillsusa.org.

About WorldSkills

Since 1950, WorldSkills has come to symbolize the pinnacle of excellence in vocational training. It provides a unique means of exchange and comparison of world-class competency standards in the industrial trades and service sectors of the global economy. The continued growth of WorldSkills attests to the fact that traditional trade and craft skills, along with newer technology’s multi-skilled occupations, make an essential contribution to the economic and social well-being of people everywhere. For more information, go to: www.worldskills.org.