EWC Welding Department Hosts Workshop
March 14, 2008
TORRINGTON, WY -
The Eastern Wyoming College Welding Department recently held a Welding Competitor Workshop on Saturday, March 8th. The all day event kicked off with registration from 630 am- 7 am, orientation from 7 am-8 am, and four specialized sessions from 8am-5pm.
The specialized sessions included 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.
Participants were given a blue-print created in AutoCAD by EWC student Johnny Wright. The competitors used the print to weld different aspects of the project in each of the four sessions. This will prepare them for any competition as well as the upcoming SkillsUSA State Conference competition to be held in Casper on April 7,8,9.
Guest Chance Pollo, SkillsUSA Champion and World Contender, was on hand to give the competitors advice as well as to share his experience in Japan.
Students work with Angie Babcock on resume templates, and Darci Duran & Pete Cawiezel conducted a short interview with the students - 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.
"We felt this event was a complete success and allowed some of the state's 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," added EWC Welding Instructor Russell Pontarolo.
