Greg Hamilton of Hamilton Auto Glass in Charleston, S.C., was one of four Windshield Repair Competition finalists named yesterday.
The finalists for the NordGlass Auto Glass Technician (AGTO) and GlasWeld Windshield Repair Competition (WRO) have been announced. The AGTO finalists, named this morning, include, in no particular order, Joe Estrada of Estrada’s Car Glass in San Antonio, Texas; Zhanchang Huo of Fengye Automobile Services Co. Ltd. in Beijing, China, and Danny Kale of Glasspro Inc. in Summerville, S.C. The WRO finalists include, in no particular order, Greg Hamilton of Hamilton Auto Glass Group in Charleston, S.C., Braulio Lopez of Repair and Go – Espana S.L. in Lugo, Spain, and Chris Smith of Techna Glass in West Jordan, Utah. The WRO finalists were announced yesterday.
Estrada, 46, is an auto glass technician and trainer at Estrada’s Car Glass in San Antonio, Texas. He has 29 years of experience. He and his wife, Tally, have three children, Leah, Seth and Evan. In his spare time, Estrada enjoys fishing and scuba diving.
Huo, 41, is a technician at Beijing Zhengmei Fengye Automobile Services Co. Ltd. in Beijing, China. He has more than 24 years of experience in the industry and was a second place winner in China’s first auto glass repair skill competition. Huo and his wife, Shuhua Ji, have one child named Kunliang. He enjoys billiards in his spare time.
Kale, 33, is the location manager at Glasspro in Summerville, S.C. He has more than 15 years of experience in the industry. He has two children, Bentley and Michael. In his spare time, Kale enjoys painting, motorcycles and building onto his house.
Hamilton is an auto glass installer for Hamilton Auto Glass Group in Charleston, S.C. He has more than 15 years of experience in the industry and is AGRSS™ certified, Dow certified, Littlebuddy certified and placed fifth in the 2010 Walt Gorman Memorial Windshield Repair Competition and first in the 2009 Pilkington Auto Glass Technician Competition. Hamilton and his wife, Debra, have one child, Alani. In his spare time, he enjoys fishing, flea markets and eBay trading.
Lopez, 39, is a technician at Repair & Go in Luga-Galicia, Spain. He has more than 15 years of experience in the industry and won the 2011 GlasWeld repair competition in Spain. He and his wife, Araceli, have two children, Laura and Alex. In his spare time he enjoys playing football, paddle and spending time with his family.
Smith, 25, is the store manager for Techna Glass in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has 5 years in the industry and was named the 2013 Techna Glass Repair Competition champion, the 2012 Techna Glass Repair Competition silver medalist and the 2012 Walt Gorman Memorial Windshield Repair Competition silver medalist and the 2011 WRO bronze medalist. He and his wife, Kate, have one child, Cooper Bradshaw. In his spare time, he enjoys watching football, fishing, spending time with his family and just having fun.
The winners of the competitions are scheduled to be announced at tonight’s Gala Awards Reception and Ceremony. Stay tuned to glassBYTEs.com™ for the results.
