World Class Wednesday: Paul Mihalick: Knowledge in Software
Earning the title of Automotive Service Excellence World-Class Technician is no small accomplishment. To be recognized as World-Class, these individuals have obtained ASE certification in 22 specialty areas: A1-A8 (automotive), T1-T8 (medium/heavy truck), B2-B5 (collision repair), and L1-L2 (advanced).
Not only is achieving certification in these areas impressive, but as of 2026, only 2,000 technicians have achieved World Class status.
In this Q&A, Motor Age sat down with Paul Mihalick — an ASE World Class technician in Altamonte, Florida — to learn more about his journey in the automotive industry and how gaining World-Class status helped advance his career.
Motor Age: Please introduce yourself and tell us about your experience in the automotive field.
Mihalick: I graduated from Hartech Automotive Trade School in 1991, and I've been in the industry for 35 years now. My specialties are advanced diagnostics and computerized controls. During my years on the towing side I got deep into hydraulic controls. I achieved World Class status in 2023.
Motor Age: What's the most memorable repair you've ever completed?
Mihalick: The one that sticks with me came in after another shop had spent about a week chasing oxygen sensor faults and throwing parts at it with no luck. When I looked at it, the sensors themselves were fine. The banks had been swapped and plugged into the wrong sensors.
The computer was getting mixed signals the whole time. I unplugged them and connected each one back to its proper sensor, and the problem was gone. No sensor ever needed replacing. That one taught me early that sometimes the fault isn't in the part, it's in what a previous hand did to it.
Motor Age: Tell us one thing about you that we can't guess from your certifications.
Mihalick: I'm the founder of Yellow Moon Software, which launched in 2025 with four web apps brought to market. One of them is ClueRally. This is a scavenger hunt web app that requires no download, hosts build a hunt, and players join from any phone with just a code. After three decades of diagnostics, building software turned out to be a natural next step.
Motor Age: What automotive trend are you most excited about? Most concerned about?
Mihalick: ADAS is what excites me most. Lane departure, blind spot monitoring, and forward collision warning. All of it is a real leap forward for safety, catching things drivers miss and preventing accidents.
Motor Age: How has ASE certification helped advance your career?
Mihalick: World Class pushed me into areas I never would have studied on my own, the body and collision work especially.
Going for the title forced me to round out into a complete technician instead of just deepening what I already knew. I love that it's a title that never expires. For me, it's been more about personal achievement than anything. Proof that I can set my mind to something hard and get there.
About the Author
Emily Kline
Emily Kline is a Special Projects Editor for FenderBender and ABRN, ABW, Motor Age, and Ratchet+Wrench. She also produces an annual publication for SATA called Painter's Playbook, is a Senior Contributing Editor for NAPA INSIGHT, and oversees Ratchet+Wrench's Shop Goods issues and FenderBender's Ultimate Collision Repair Shop.
She has worked in the Vehicle Service & Repair Group at Endeavor Business Media for over 3 years, learning about vehicle repair and the automotive industry as a whole. She has a bachelor's degree in English from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota in Winona. As a writer, she enjoys her fair share of reading and has no shame in using the long Minnesota winters as an excuse to stay indoors and cozy up with a good book.