EWC 1st Annual Welding Competitor Workshop
The EWC Welding Department held its first of what we hope to be an annual Welding
Competitor Workshop on Saturday, March 8th. The all day event kicked off with
registration from 630am-7am, orientation from 7am-8am, four specialized sessions
from 8am-5pm (Stan Nicolls-Shielded Metal Arc Welding, Leland Vetter- OxyFuel
Cutting, Grant Harpstreith-Gas Metal Arc Welding, and Russell Pontarolo-Gas
Tungsten Arc Welding Aluminum). About 16 students and their advisors from
several Wyoming high schools participated in the event. Given a blue-print
created in AutoCAD by EWC student Johnny Wright, the competitors (FFA and SkillsUSA)
welded different aspects of the project in each of four sessions. This
will prepare them for any competition as well as the upcoming SkillsUSA State
Conference on April 7,8,9. Guest Chance Pollo (SkillsUSA Champion and World Contender)
was on hand to give the competitors advice as well as talk of his experience in Japan.
EWC College relations (Tami Afdahl) provided give-a-way items, EWC Recruiting
(Mell Cooper) provided snacks and lunch, Angie Babcock provided a resume template,
and Darci Duran & Pete Cawiezel conducted a short interview with the kids – an
aspect of most competitions. EWC SkillsUSA Welding members, Chance Steinmeyer,
Mitch Falkenburg, Kole Kidd, Jesse Lang, and Austin Sussex assisted with the
workshop as well. – EWC Welding Department Thanks You All! We felt this event
was a complete success and allowed some of the states best high school students
and their instructors the opportunity to step into the shoes of a college
welding student for a day. It seemed everyone took something home with them
out of the experience and that was great to see.
| Here are the participants |
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Oxy Fuel Cutting |
| Gas Tungsten Arc Welding Aluminum |
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Shielded Metal Arc Welding |
| Chance Pollo (Right) Guest assists kid with welding machine variable |
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Article submitted by:
Russell Pontarolo
Welding Instructor
AWS Certified Welding Inspector
SkillsUSA Advisor
307.532.8274
Visit us on the web: ewc.wy.edu
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