PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN WELDING SOCIETY TO ADVANCE THE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND APPLICATION OF WELDINGAND ALLIED JOINING AND CUTTING PROCESSES WORLDWIDE, INCLUDING BRAZING, SOLDERING, AND THERMAL SPRAYING

April 2012

A Look atModernPowerSourcesWelder Training Is Going Strong

Precision LaserCutting

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Anyone connected with the manufac-turing sector knows these cold hardfacts: we need more people, we

need more investment in training, and weneed it now. In a world where skilled laborshortages are rising, the investment andneed to train new skilled workers is at anall-time high.The percentage of companies having

trouble filling positions due to a shortage ofskilled workers has risen to its highest levelsince the global economic downturn beganin 2008. In 2011, one in three employersaround the world (34%) reported havingtrouble filling jobs due to a lack of availabletalent, according to ManpowerGroup’s sixthannual Talent ShortageSurvey.In the United States, the shortage is even

more alarming, with more than half of em-ployers (52%) unable to find the workersthey need. Topping the list of the ten mostdifficult jobs to fill in the U.S. was skilledtrade workers — a category that includeswelders, fabricators, and metalworkers.A bright spot, however, in this other-

wise troubling picture is the work beingdone by community colleges around thecountry to equip future workers with theskills they need to succeed in the compet-itive 21st century economy.“A core mission of many community

colleges is to provide career technical ed-ucation,” explained Kristin Houser, divi-sion dean of College of the Canyons in

CommunityCollegeWeldingProgramUpdateCommunity colleges and industrial leaderscombine forces todevelop trainingprograms that willattract and educate the skilled workforce of the future

Fig. 1 — Lansing Community Collegepartnered with an equipmentmanufacturer to outfit the school’s new9000-sq-ft, hands-on welding educationdepartment with equipment and a weldfume control system.

Deanna Postlethwaite is marketing manager, Automation Div., The Lincoln Electric Co., Cleveland, Ohio(www.lincolnelectric.com).

BY DEANNA POSTLETHWAITE

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Santa Clarita, Calif., where welding hasbeen a cornerstone of the school’s careertechnical education program for morethan 30 years. “These programs offer thetraining needed for sophisticated, high-paying jobs.”At the core of these innovative train-

ing programs at community colleges na-tionwide are strong partnerships withcompanies in the manufacturing sector.Companies have begun to work closelywith the colleges to provide feedback oncurriculum programs, education-focusedequipment and more to attract young stu-dents to the skilled trades.

Attracting and RetainingStudentsSince the recession began, the Ameri-

can Association of Community Collegesreports that community college enroll-ment has surged, increasing 25% in justthe two-year time period between 2007and 2009.“When the economy goes down, the

number of students goes up,” said DennyMorse, dean of the Technical Careers Di-vision of Lansing Community College,Lansing, Mich., which boasts a 9000-sq-ftwelding lab that serves as headquarters forthe school’s one-year certification and two-year associate degree programs — Fig. 1.“We’ve had a tremendous surge in

welding enrollments for at least the pastcouple of semesters,” noted Roy Lanier,welding department chair at Pitt Commu-nity College in Winterville, N.C. “Rightnow we have more students than we’veever had, and that’s not including studentsenrolled in our high school vocational ed-ucation and tech prep training programs.”The same is true on the west coast, said

Tim Baber, department chair of the weld-ing education program at College of theCanyons. The program serves anywherefrom 200 to 350 students seeking weldingtraining at any given point in time, eitherthrough the two-year associate’s degreeprogram or through continuing educationprogramming, which offers a certificate of achievement and six certificates of spe-cialization.However, attracting and retaining stu-

dents goes beyond economic conditions.At any level of student recruitment and re-tention, engagement is the key to success.Instead of simply telling students what ajob in metal fabrication can do for them,

the workforce of tomorrow needs to seethe benefits of a job in welding firsthand.They need to get interested and excitedabout learning. Community colleges acrossthe country have accepted this challenge.College of the Canyons has taken its

recruitment efforts on the road, takingwelding out of the college lab and bring-ing it to the welders of the future — stu-dents at the middle school and high schoollevels. Through a Carl D. Perkins Careerand Technical Education ImprovementAct of 2006 grant, the college takes its“roadshow trailer” to area schools todemonstrate welding skills and the bene-fits of a welding career — Fig. 2.The 16-ft former carnival concessions

trailer includes five welding machines forhands-on demonstrations and a videomonitor that delivers a presentation de-signed to show young people why a careerin welding is cool. It also features the Lin-coln Electric VRTEX® 360, a virtual re-ality arc welding system that Baber viewsas an important tool, not only for class-room teaching, but also for recruitment.“We usually have kids lined up all day

for that,” he said. “In fact, many of theparticipants who tried the (virtual reality)simulation during our outreach events be-came motivated to try the hands-on livewelding processes that were available onour welding roadshow trailer. We hook

Fig. 2 — College of the Canyonsuses its 16-ft-long roadshow trailerto demonstrate welding skills andthe benefits of a welding career atarea schools.

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many kids through the virtual reality, en-courage them to try the real deal, and askthem to consider a career in welding. Weneed to engage them early because theytruly are the welding industry’s future.”

Teaching the MultimediaGenerationVirtual reality arc welding systems

have grabbed the attention of bothprospective students and those already en-rolled in a welding education program, es-pecially in today’s video-centric era — Fig.3. The reliance of today’s youth — our fu-ture workforce — on the virtual world haschanged the tactics required to engageand interest them in learning the skillsneeded for future careers.While nothing replaces hands-on, real-

life experience and knowledge, engagingstudents in welding training through amethod that acts like digital entertain-ment but teaches them the proper tech-niques needed to create a solid weld fallsinto a familiar realm they know and love.The technology built into virtual reality

arc welding systems brings welding to life ina 3-D environment. With this training tool,users can put on a real welding helmet, pickup a gas metal arc welding gun or coveredelectrode holder and lay down a weld in avirtual world, thanks to special virtual real-ity displays embedded in the system’s cus-tomized welding helmet — Fig. 4.

Through high-resolution images andsoftware, the student is immersed in a re-alistic virtual environment that is en-hanced by sounds and visual feedback tosupplement the learning experience. Ad-ditionally, as the students “weld” in thisenvironment, instructors can — in realtime — tell students about modificationsand adjustments they need to make as theyare welding.At Pitt Community College, Lanier

connects the system to a projection screento allow all students in a class to watch whattheir classmate using the virtual realitywelding system is doing; it offers an excel-lent opportunity to teach a lesson, he said.“You can point out welding deficien-

cies and spend time critiquing the work asa group,” he said, adding that all studentsget a chance to demonstrate their skills onscreen in addition to serving as critics. “It’shard for everyone to see the demonstra-tion on the unit’s built-in monitor in a class-room setting with multiple students, butwhen you project it onto a 4- × 5-ft screen,it can really point out what’s going on.”The benefits of incorporating a virtual

welding machine into a training curricu-lum are numerous. Virtual reality arcwelding doesn’t require material to weldon and welding electrodes or wire to con-sume, so the waste associated with tradi-tional welder training is eliminated. En-ergy usage also is reduced by not using awelding machine and weld fume control

system. What’s more, you can reinforceproper setup and techniques and safetytraining before students ever pick up anactual torch.

Getting AutomatedOnce students move out of the virtual

classroom, they’ll find themselvesequipped with real welding torches andembarking upon developing their skills ina wide range of welding techniques, in-cluding shielded metal arc welding(SMAW), gas tungsten arc welding(GTAW), gas metal arc welding(GMAW), and pipe welding. Today, in-creasingly more colleges are adding a newprocess to the curriculum — automatedrobotic welding, a growing area of needin the manufacturing sector. “It’s a skill set all welders need to have

in their bag of tricks,” noted College ofthe Canyons’ Houser. “Even welders whohave been doing TIG or stick welding foryears need to have new skill sets, and that’sa need we can fill.”College of the Canyons recently added a

Fig. 3 — Pitt Community Collegeand College of the Canyons utilize avirtual reality arc welding trainingsystem to introduce potential newstudents to welding.

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welding automation certificate to the de-partment’s curriculum, not only for stu-dents learning the welding trades butalso for the instructors who teachthem across the region.To create a welding au-

tomation certification pro-gram, the college workedclosely with industry partnerLincoln Electric to obtain thenecessary equipment and forassistance in drafting the ro-botic welding curriculum. The school now boasts four

mobile preengineered roboticwelding education cells, de-signed for both classroom andlab use, and two larger station-ary fixed table systems — Fig. 5.All were purchased through a Cal-ifornia Community CollegesChancellor’s Office EWD Indus-try-Driven Regional CollaborativeWorkforce grant.“We couldn’t afford to have an in-

tegrator come in and custom build theultimate robot system,” Baber said.“Here’s a cell that’s ready to plug inand play. I can roll it into the classroom,show students what to do, and give thema hands-on experience of how automatedwelding works.”Baber then worked with Lincoln’s Au-

tomation Division to develop an easilymodifiable and expandable welding au-tomation curriculum that will adapt withthe program as it grows.“You can’t build a program around one

cell or do just a straight classroom lectureon automated welding,” Baber said. “Stu-dents need to have a hands-on approachwhere they get in and use the equipmentand understand the programming tech-niques. We also want to instruct them onthe maintenance aspects of this technol-ogy. This new curriculum reflects all ofthis and is in line with entry-level welderspecs, as well as more advanced certifica-tions and training.”

Technological Alliances =Economic DevelopmentBy establishing close relationships with

key industry suppliers that can assist in bring-ing new tools and technology, not to mentionknow-how, to the educational marketplace,community colleges across the country arecreating a differentiator for their organiza-tions, becoming a trusted source for work-force training and community development.“Whenever possible, we want our stu-

dents to be exposed to the latest technol-ogy and processes. They need to be able tostand out in a very competitive job mar-ket,” explained Catherine Lindquist, a Cer-tified Welding Inspector who has taught at

Lansing Community Collegefor more than 20 years. “And,by partnering with key industrymanufacturers, we’re able to en-sure our students have the bestfoundation possible.”

In California, Baberand Houser credit a strong andcontinually growing partner-ship with industry leaders as akey component in the develop-ment of College of theCanyons’ welding program.The program complementsother areas of study, includingmetal fabrication and robotics,giving students the ability to cre-ate a technical degree programthat suits their interests, as well asone that provides a well-trainedworkforce for the region.“We take economic develop-

ment seriously at our college,”Houser said. “We help employers fill

entry-level jobs with well-qualified stu-dents and also provide workforce trainingand development programs. It all comesdown to continually helping currentwelders build on their skill sets and alsoto attracting a quality skilled workforceof the future.”u

Fig. 5 — The full robotic welding lab at College of the Canyons in-cludes four robotic welding education cells and two single-zone,fixed table robotic welding systems.

Fig. 4 — The VR helmetimmerses the student in avirtual reality weldingworld using 3-D eyepieces and stereo sound.

Reprinted with permission from WELDING JOURNAL, April 2012. On the Web at www.aws.org.© American Welding Society. All Rights Reserved. Foster Printing Service: 866-879-9144, www.marketingreprints.com.

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