Charley Dieringer, a senior at Homewood-Flossmoor High School, won second place national honors at the SkillsUSA competition in June where he got to show off his computing skills on a CNC 3-Axis Milling Programmer. His win is the first national medal by an H-F student.
congratulated by teachers Bill Merchantz, left, and Greg Petecki, right, who
accompanied him to the Skills USA competition in Atlanta where Dieringer
won national honors. (Provided photo)
Dieringer won the chance to enter national competition in Atlanta after placing first in two events at the Illinois Skills USA competition. He qualified to move up to nationals and chose the CNC 3-Axis (computer numerical control) milling machine competition.
In 2024, Dieringer also won first place at state in the CNC 3-Axis competition and won the right to compete at nationals but wasn’t able to attend.
A standard CNC 3-Axis milling machine has a table that moves the part to provide one or two planes of movement and a tool that provides the other one or two planes of movement. The machines are used for manufacturing various automotive parts, such as engine components and gearboxes.
Dieringer programmed the machine using G-code. He said the machine operates the opposite of a 3D printer: rather than creating a product, it is removing from the material he uses. The machine uses what would generally be considered drill bits, he said.
senior Charley Dieringer created through machine computer
programming. He won second place in the nation honors at
the Skills USA competition. (Provided photo)
The finished product Dieringer produced was a desk supplies holder. He programmed for circles, straight lines, various heights and indentures. The program even allowed him to etch the words “Skills USA 2025” onto the holder. The piece showed how precise Dieringer’s measurements had to be.
“I’m extremely pleased with Charley’s performance at the SkillsUSA national competition,” said H-F teacher Bill Merchantz, a career and technical education teacher who worked with Dieringer and accompanied him to nationals.
“He practiced, prepared, and readied himself to do his best from knowing the software and coding all the way to having his uniform and even his boots (with him). Charley represents the excellence in manufacturing education that is occurring in the Southland, and more importantly here at H-F,” Merchantz said. “In fact, this is the first national medal for H-F in any SkillsUSA competition. To say that I am proud of him would be an understatement.”
To earn the national honor, Dieringer had to not only program the CNC 3-Axis milling machine but also compete in four other side sections to get as close as possible to a total 1,000 points. The milling machine was 60% of his score. He also was tested on G-code troubleshooting and finding errors, general machine knowledge, using measuring tools to inspect parts and an employability test that covered job skills and then a mock job interview.
Dieringer has been working in his father’s machine shop the past two summers but he said his skills have improved through his H-F classes. He’s also taken automotive classes at H-F.
His interests do include a possible career in machining, but he also is considering turning his piloting hobby into a career as a commercial airline pilot. He is training at Bult Field for his certified flight instructor license and commercial piloting license.
Dieringer is the son of Brian and Katie Dieringer of Homewood.
Class of 2025 H-F graduate Mason Kleinfelder also represented H-F at SkillsUSA national competition in the automotive maintenance and light repair competition.
“In only his first year of competing with SkillsUSA, Mason was able to qualify at state for nationals and placed 11th. Nationals is so tough when losing only a single point or two separates where you end up finishing. He competed for six and half hours and came in 11th in the nation,” said Merchantz.
