Kory Fontes remembers crying during her first welding lesson with her father at the age of ten. Those days are long gone as she has now joined her father, Mike Fontes, as a fellow welding instructor in Cuesta College’s welding education program.
The program continues to grow as Kory reaches female students who may not otherwise consider a career in welding if it wasn’t for a female instructor to show the way forward. Kory herself finally took the plunge into welding while studying Agricultural Education.
When asked about the experience of teaching alongside his daughter, Mike Fontes shared, “Having my daughter here, working side-by-side as a team has just been phenomenal.”
Here’s a look at the rest of this week’s welding news:
Welding Jobs
Artist Vivian Wells Continues Welding in Her Golden Years
Although Vivian has always been into art, (won her first award at age seven) everything from pastels, to water colors, and acrylics, she didn’t take her first welding class until 1990 at Yavapai College. “I loved it even more than I thought I would, and I would even forget to stop to eat and drink,” she said smiling.
Illinois Community College Students Eye Welding Job Opportunities
Even though Caleb Nale is training to be a welder, his career options are wide open. The 24-year-old Richland Community College student said he can pursue work with his welding skills in myriad locations and industries.
“I knew there was good job security coming from it. Anywhere in the country you went, you’d be able to find a job with that,” he said, “noting there are prospects working in foundries or on ships. So many things, in some way or another, require welding. There are a lot of opportunities that come from it.”
Welding Schools
13 Inmates in Louisiana Selected to Receive Welding Training
Northwest Louisiana Technical College is partnering with the Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office to offer an innovative training program for individuals assigned to WPSO custody. The collaboration offers job skills and vocational certifications to offenders in an effort to reduce incarceration costs and recidivism rates and to make Louisiana communities safer. Approximately 13 offenders assigned to Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center in Minden will begin night classes in welding at the NWLTC Minden Campus.
New Welding Training Center in Colorado Springs Offers Top Notch Equipment
Shiny new equipment occupies 15 training welding booths in one of Springs Fabrication’s metal-manufacturing buildings on Colorado Springs’ east side. Down the hall, a large classroom has just been completed.
In what Pikes Peak Community College and Springs Fabrication leaders are calling “the first of its kind,” a new Welding Training Center for high school and college students opened Aug. 21 to address the “skills gap” that exists between industry and higher education.
York, PA Welding School Customizes Curriculum for Students
KLK School of Welding & Theory opened a few months ago to meet the need for welders in York County’s manufacturing plants, said Ken Kirkpatrick, president of KLK Welding. “I’ve got companies in York calling asking what kind of students I can send them,” he said. “Because there is such a demand.”
Welding Industry
American Welding Society Releases New D1.1 Structural Welding Code for Steel
The new edition spells out the requirements for design, procedure and performance qualification, fabrication, inspection, and repair of steel structures made of tubes, plate, and structural shapes that are subject to either static or cyclic loading.
Welding Events
FABTECH
FABTECH brings a wealth of innovation and technology solutions to Chicago, IL November 9-12, 2015… More than 40,000 attendees and over 1,500 exhibiting companies are expected to gather once again celebrating metal manufacturing at its best. The event also provides learning opportunities beyond the show floor with over 100 educational sessions and expert-led presentations covering the latest trends and technology in the metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing industries.
Welding Gone Wrong
Unauthorized Welds Keep Three Submarines in Port
The supplier of the piping that connects the nuclear reactor to the submarines propulsion systems is alleged to have made unauthorized and undocumented weld repairs on fittings used on USS Minnesota (SSN-783), USS North Dakota (SSN-784) and USS John Warner(SSN-785).
Propane Tank Suspected Cause of Welding Truck Fire
Fire destroyed one Weiler Welding Company truck and heat damaged two others parked outside the business on Sandridge Drive. Moraine Deputy Fire Chief David Cooper said fire crews found one in a line of vehicles fully involved in flames when they arrived. It was loaded with 30 tanks of propane.
