Three women enrolled in the welding program at Patrick Henry Community College are enjoying their new careers as welders. In fact, for each of them, welding was the most obvious career choice, as they shared with the Martinsville Bulletin.
“My grandpa is a welder, my dad is a welder and my brother is a welder. I’ve been around it my whole life,” said Alexandria Divinie, who is nearing completion of her welding classes. “They’re really proud of what I’m doing.”
Divinie isn’t getting into welding on a whim. She’s in it for the long haul, and is already certified in MIG welding. She’s currently working on additional certifications.
Fellow student Lynn Eaton was on a career path to work in early childhood education, but when a high school agriculture class introduced her to welding, she didn’t look back. She’d much rather deal with sparks and slag than spit up and diapers.
Source: Martinsville Bulletin
There are a lot of welding job opportunities and training programs like this one that are growing because welding is in high demand these days. Here is the latest in welding news:
Welding Industry
Automated Welding Could Help the Right Situation: “However, studies on firms that have switched to automated welding show that the technique can provide large gains in productivity and profitability if it is used in the correct style of situation such as the production of batteries, sensors, transducers and components of light bulbs — small, fiddly devices hard for humans to handle — or more dangerous, hazardous items to people such as nuclear devices or transformer cores.”
Texas and Louisiana Shale Boom Could Slow without Enough Welders: “The processing and refining industries need so many workers to build new facilities in Texas and Louisiana because of the unprecedented rise over the last three years in U.S. oil and gas production, much of it due to shale. Labor shortages, causing delays in construction, threaten to slow the boom and push back the date when the country can meet its own energy needs, estimated by BP Plc to be in 2035.”
Welding Jobs
Western PA Mon Valley Has High Demand for Welders: “Such is the need for welders that even employers are training prospective employees. Brownsville Marine Products did welding testing at the job fair. Many of the students sent by the vocational-technical school had some welding experience.
Tim Scheib, president and CEO of the Brownsville firm, said the company continues to operate its own welding training program on site.”
Welding Education
School Upgrades Welding Equipment to Match Industry: “Welding students at Central and South Lafourche high schools are benefiting from new equipment made possible through a $10,000 grant. The money came via a Bayou Community Foundation award. The schools used it to buy band saws.
‘The saws have significantly decreased the time it takes to make cuts, according to Denise Billiot, welding teacher at South Lafourche High.”
Welding Program Reaches Out to Native Americans: “Ten weeks and earning 15 credits is what it took for five students at Salish Kootenai College to receive their American welding Society certification last quarter. The welding course was the first offered at SKC.
The ironworking course was developed from a series of tribal welding trainings that started in 2009 in Browning by Norman Moses, Nez Perce, according to SKC Welding Instructor Marvin Courville.”
Welding Events
Aluminum Welding for Engineers Seminar, May 27, 2014, New Orleans, LA
Is aluminum welding difficult or just different? Find out in this one-day seminar intended for engineers who specify or design aluminum welds.
The Heat Treatment Conference, August 12-13, Dallas, TX
The thermal effects from welding and heat treatment influence the microstructure and mechanical properties of welds. Various materials, such as carbon steels and other alloy grades, are affected by heat treatment which changes the weld metallurgy and influences the final welded product. Better understanding of the impact of welding and heat treatment practices can allow for the weld quality and reliability to be optimized for the application.
Welding Gone Wrong
Welding Company Blamed for Deadly Boston Fire: “The owner of the Back Bay apartment building destroyed by a nine-alarm fire that killed two firefighters last month is suing a welding company it says was responsible for the blaze.
Law enforcement officials have said that the welding company — identified in the lawsuit as D&J Iron Works in Malden — failed to get a permit from the City of Boston for work on a railing next door to the building that burned down…
The lawsuit accuses the welding company of failing to keep a fire extinguisher at the site or placing fire resistant shields or guards over anything that could be combustible.”
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Now that you know what’s going on in the world of welding, visit Baker’s Gas and Welding for the latest deals in welders, welding safety gear, and welding supplies.
