Robb Simpson, originally of Snohomish and a Lake Washington Technical College (LWTC) student studying Precision Machining, took first place at the national SkillsUSA competition in Kansas City in June.

SkillsUSA Nationals is an annual series of competitions bringing the best and the brightest together from across the country to compete in their fields of expertise. In all, over 5,000 individuals competed in over 90 contests ranging from construction to hairdressing to mechanics.

Simpson’s win came in the CNC Milling High School/Secondary competition against 20 other contestants and automatically qualifies him for the international competition. Computer Numerical Control (CNC) milling uses rotating blades, guided by a computer program, to turn a solid material into a usable part.

“I actually made a number of mistakes,” said Simpson, who finished second at last year’s competition in the same category. “But just because you make a mistake, it doesn’t mean you won’t do well. The key to winning is being able to adapt to ever-changing scenarios.”

For winning, Simpson received $750 in clothing from Carhartt, a $150 Amazon.com gift certificate provided by Autodesk, the AutoCAD Inventor 2010 Professional software suite, worth over $5,000, and three sets of high quality CNC software for his school.