SEMA Show, TechForce Foundation Partner for 8th Annual Techs Rock Awards
For the second year in a row, the SEMA Show will host the national awards program recognizing students & technicians across six categories...
TechForce Foundation has partnered with the SEMA Show to present the 8th Annual Techs Rock Awards, a national celebration of the students and technicians powering America’s most essential industries, company officials stated in a press release. TechForce Foundation is a national 501(c)(3) not-for-profit dedicated to getting more people into skilled technician careers and keeping them there.
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. In front of thousands of manufacturers, employers, educators and media, the nation’s top technicians will take the stage—not as a footnote to the industry, but as the headliners, noted the release.
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.
2026 Judging Panel
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 2018 SEMA Person of the Year award
- Mike Good, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum
- Sean Holman, host of “The Truck Show” podcast and TechForce’s own “First Shift” podcast
- Additional industry leaders are also expected to join the panel
Each brings firsthand knowledge of what it takes to build a career in the automotive industry and a shared belief that the people doing that work deserve to be celebrated on the industry’s biggest stage.
Nominations Now Open
The economy needs more than 240,000 new technicians every year, and schools are graduating about 102,000. That gap isn’t a pipeline problem; it’s a recognition problem, TechForce said. These are $50,000–$80,000 careers in a $340 billion industry, no four-year degree required, and Gen Z is already paying attention. Completions are up across eight of 10 sectors. The stigma is breaking. What hasn’t kept pace is the infrastructure to support students from discovery all the way through to a paycheck, and the visibility to show them this path is real.
“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.”
“The SEMA Show is where the automotive aftermarket industry’s future takes shape—through breakthrough products, new ideas and rising talent,” said RJ de Vera, SEMA vice president of marketing. “Technicians play a critical role in that future, and with the TechForce Foundation, we’re proud to spotlight and support those who will carry the torch forward.”
Nominations are currently open and run through Aug. 3, 2026. Anyone can nominate a deserving student or technician at TechForce.org/TechsRock. The 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, according to officials.
Since 2018, the Techs Rock Awards have recognized 79 outstanding students and technicians. But TechForce says the point was never just the trophy; it’s the moment a young person sees someone who looks like them, doing what they do, standing on a stage that size, and decides this career is worth pursuing.
