Lemont ties school record with three medals at 2021 IDEA State Competition

(L-R): Genna Yavaraski, Karl Ramski, Caden Brennan, Matas Carmichael, Michael Doyle

Lemont High School’s Technology Student Association tied a school record with three medals at the 2021 Illinois Design Educators Association (IDEA) State Competition, which was contested virtually this spring. Seniors Caden Brennan, Matas Carmichael and Michael Doyle matched the best finish in school history by placing as the runner-up in Engineering Design, while seniors Karl Ramski and Genna Yavaraski were third in Assembly Modeling and Architectural Board, respectively. 

The students advanced to state finals competition thanks to their performance in a regional competition scored by Joliet Junior College. 

Yavaraski placed first to continue Lemont’s strong tradition in the Architectural Board division in regional competition. In that category, students are challenged to design and/or draw specified views, details or sections using provided materials, specifications and drawings. A Lemont student has won the regional in Architectural Board eight straight years, dating back to 2014.

Brennan, Carmichael and Doyle teamed for a runner-up regional finish in Engineering Design, in which a student “firm” of two or three students complete a presentation and project solution to sell their firm’s design to a client. Carmichael is the school’s first three-time state qualifier; he previously qualified individually in Introductory CAD and Assembly Modeling in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Ramski placed third in the regional in Assembly Modeling, in which competitors model and subsequently assemble a number of parts using parametric constraint-based modeling programs.

Illinois Design Educators Association Website

Jacob Wilk ‘18 is the school’s only two-time regional champion, having won the Architectural Board category in 2017 and 2018. Other regional winners have included Abigail Belsan ‘20 (Architectural Board, 2020), Jasmine Hornik ‘15 (Architectural Board, 2015), Tom Janik ‘14 (Assembly Modeling, 2014), Mark Kaminski ‘10 (Architectural Board, 2010), Szymon Krzeptowski-Mucha ‘13 (Architectural Board, 2012), Matt Lassak ‘16 (Architectural Board, 2016), Nick Lawrence ‘09 (3D Architectural CAD Modeling, 2009), Katie Lynch ‘14 (Architectural Board, 2014), Matt Milan ‘19 (Architectural Board, 2019), Kathy Sitko ‘10 (Introductory Board, 2010), Ryan Strauss ‘08 (3D Architectural CAD Modeling, 2008), and the team of Aaron Bromberek ‘18, Alex Fugiel ‘19 and Kendrick Tran ‘18 (Engineering Design, 2018).

Lemont’s top individual finisher at the IDEA State Competition was Sean Armbruster ‘09, who was the runner-up in the 3D Architectural CAD Modeling category in 2009. Additionally, Bromberek, Fugiel and Tran earned a runner-up finish in Engineering Design in 2018. Lassak is the school’s only two-time state medalist, having placed third in Architectural Board in 2015 and 2016. Lemont’s other state medalists have included Hornik (3rd, Architectural Board, 2015), Milan (3rd, Architectural Board, 2019), Wilk (3rd, Architectural Board, 2018), Dan Garczek ‘16 (3rd, 3D Architectural CAD Modeling, 2016) and Adam Popper ‘17 (3rd, Introductory CAD, 2015). 

Under the tutelage of teacher Scott Duensing, Lemont has had at least one IDEA state qualifier in 13 of 14 years. It has earned multiple medals in state competition three times, with a high of three state medals in 2015. It advanced a school-record five entries to state competition in 2020, but that year’s state competition was cancelled due to COVID-19.