Welding instructor Mark Prosser of Blackhawk Technical College in Wisconsin knows that the long-term survival of the welding trade depends on getting young people interested in welding and then hooked on it as a potential career path. He knows firsthand that welding can lead to high-skill jobs that pay well, and he’s contacted frequently by businesses looking to hire his students, but until now, there hasn’t been a simple way to get new welders interested in the trade.
Prosser has teamed up with Bryan Fuller, the host of the ‘Naked Speed’ show on Velocity, to write a simple introduction to welding: “Full-Bore Welding, A Comprehensive Guide into the World of Welding.” The book provides the basics any new welder needs to know in order to pick up a simple welding machine and to start welding. It also offers charts and diagrams without overwhelming readers with too much information.
Prosser believes the book gives students just enough advice to start welding. And once they get into it, many will become hooked for life.
Welding Industry
Dissimilar Alloys Joined More Effectively by Higher Friction Stir Speeds: Simple changes in technique can yield big improvements, say A*STAR researchers investigating how welding speed and the placement of materials affect the quality of welds between dissimilar alloys. They discovered that the tensile strength increases with increasing welding speed and becomes even higher when the softer alloy is placed on the advancing side of the weld.
Friction stir welding is a relatively new technique for joining flat sheets of metals and alloys together. It is most suited for binding aluminum and aluminum-based alloys materials that are traditionally difficult or impossible to weld.
Welding Jobs
Virginia Community College Receives Incentives to Provide Welders for New Jobs: Blue Ridge Community College could receive up to $71,000 to expand programs and certifications in areas that are growing in the Valley, namely welding and truck driving.
The goal is to get more people certified in the fields where they are needed, both for the sake of job security and fulfilling the needs of the community, said Blue Ridge President John Downey. For each student that attains a certification in one of the those high demand fields, Blue Ridge will receive $1,000.
Dozen Job Offers for White Mountains Community College Welding Graduates: Even though signs point to a recovering economy, many college graduates are still lucky if they get one or two job offers, let alone more than a dozen, some career experts say. For students of White Mountains Community College’s welding program in Berlin, [N.H.] the latter is the reality for its top students, according to associate welding professor Michael Pike.
On Dec. 19, Pike and other instructors from the college’s welding program came to the Cheshire Career Centerin Keene for the first time. They presented the community college’s program to high school students, showing them a potential a career they may not be aware of.
Company Trains Welders at Local College: Participants in the Intro to MIG Welding program offered at the East Central College Washington site recently received certificates of completion. Thirteen students completed the eight-week program which was held at the Four Rivers Career Center.
Training included OSHA10 certification, a National Career Readiness certificate and five weeks of welding instruction. A Washington manufacturer, Canam Steel, enrolled a current employee in the program to speed up the company’s efforts.
Welding Education
Welding Students Commissioned to Weld 10-Foot Menorah: The Missoula synagogue celebrated Hanukkah by flicking the switches to light up a special menorah called a hanukkiyah, commissioned and built by three students from the welding program at Missoula College.
Saturday night the congregation invited those students to come for the lighting of the candles for the fifth night of the holiday. Levi Bessette said he and the other students worked in their free time since September, dedicating two hours a day and four days a week to work on the project.
Alaskan High School Students Get Preview of Welding Trade School: Getting a jumpstart on a potentially lucrative career path, seven students from Seward High School and Connections home school program recently spent some evenings each week attending a basic welding and shop safety academy at AVTEC- Alaska’s Institute of Technology.
Their class project was constructing four new tank stands for the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery. The stands hold conical 190-liter seawater tanks that have been used for rearing red king crab, sea cucumber and abalone. Upon successful completion of the 75-hour academy, the students receive a high-school credit and an industry-recognized OSHA 10-hour endorsement, a related program which they did online.
Virtual Welder Provides Students Gateway into Welding: Clatsop Community Colleges new virtual welding trainer is taking a technologically advanced approach to a still growing field. Through a state grant, Clatsop Community College bought a $50,000 VRTEX 360 Virtual Welding Trainer from Lincoln Electric.
The VRTEX, designed from similar technology used in flight simulators for the U.S. Air Force, takes the place of a welding machine, with an endless supply of metal as inexpensive as the electricity used to power it.
Welding Events
IBSC Conference, April 19, 2015: Now in its 6th Year, the IBSC remains the premier event for the brazing and soldering community. For years, the IBSC has provided professionals, scientists and engineers involved in the research, development and application of brazing and soldering, a unique networking and idea-exchange forum. This three-day conference provides cutting-edge education and technical programming for the brazing and soldering community, as well as peer-networking and a full exhibit program, showcasing the latest trends, products, processes and techniques available in the industry.
Welding Gone Wrong
Bucket of Rags Catches Fire and Burns Down Oregon Garage: Forest Grove Fire & Rescue spokesperson Matt Johnston said the garage, more of a carport and workshop was a total loss. The fire claimed not only the building, but several motorcycles and a 1964 Plymouth car.
Johnston said the homeowner was in the garage, welding a bracket with an acetylene torch, when a spark ignited a nearby bucket of rags. The homeowner went to his house to call for help, but the fire spread quickly.
