Hello all,
I've been a CWI for a little over a year now. After passing, I took over the QC Department for the piping contractor I work for. It's a one-man show right now; I do all of the routine visual inspection and have "in-house" certs for MT and PT but will rarely use them. I also do all of the paperwork for "S", "U", and "R" stamps that the company holds, and just got us through our 3-yr renewal review for those stamps last week.
Things are a little slow right now, and I'm always looking for more training and certification, so I've been thinking about my future here and what I can do to beef up my credentials a bit. My boss is stuck on me becoming a "Level III", but as you know that is an ASNT designation that pertains to NDE personnel. My background is in production welding, not NDE, and this place doesn't really need to expand into NDE. I've been trying to find some sort of certification that would satisfy the boss's desire (and mine!) for me to advance to a higher level, just not in the NDE field. I've looked into a Welding Engineer degree, but there aren't any local (NE Kansas) schools that offer that curriculum. I'm now looking into the Certified Welding Supervisor seminar and exam. Does anyone have any advice for me? It looks like if I do the seminar/exam I'll be paying for it myself and losing out on a week's pay, so I want to make sure it'll be worth it. Any thoughts on becoming a CWS, or suggestions for another way to approach this?
Matt
I am at the AWS Certification Committee Meeting when I saw this post! I showed this to Mr. Bill Behnke, the Chairman of the AWS Qualification Subcommittee on the Certified Welding Supervisor. He agrees with me. You will probably get more bang for the buck going for the Level 3.
Joe Kane
Matt,
As you are employed by a piping contractor did you test to API 1104 for your CWI? If so, you could always add one of the other endorsement exams. Especially the ASME codes. Even D1.1 could be of use if your work involves welding supports and other structures along with piping. Blueprint reading Endorsement Exam may be of some interest. Probably not Bolting though worth considering.
Then, if your company has an outside source that would work with you there are the PT, MT, & UT NDE levels to go through. Yes, they are ASNT but well worth the time and effort. UT takes a fair amount of hours. Not something that happens in a one week class with an exam at the end. To add the level I status to your in house quals for these would be a good beginning though and show the boss you are interested in advancing. And broaden your knowledge of the various methods of testing. Sometimes in house training lacks a good number of needed lessons to apply to the work.
Have a Great Day, Brent
Thank you both. I did test to API 1104 for the CWI. Here we deal more with ASME, so I intend to take the exam for Section IX, B31.1, and B31.3 one of these days. I'll also look into what it will take to get to a Level II or III. Thanks again.
I personally think that AWS maybe trying to reach a little bit and try to make some more money on all these new certifications like the Certified Welding Supervisor and Certified Welding Salesperson. Sounds like your in hard spot because you wont be able to get the hours in the various NDE disciplines because you don't do it enough to reach the level II hours. You need to get about 1000 UT hours to get your level II and become a level III you need to be a level II for five years. You can always get your classroom tutorial hours by taking the 40 hour short courses but still won't have your level II.
Maybe time to look into finding another shop or some field work and try to get in on some ASME or API work. I am trying to get in a shop or field work with API or ASME but I have no experience at all in those fields, just AWS. Sounds like you might have better luck than I because you already have some experience in those industries.
Update: I've decided to take the Section IX / B31.1 / B31.3 endorsement exam. The AWS website says it covers the 2007 Edition of Section IX and B31.1, and the 2006 Edition of B31.3. Does that mean that the addenda are not covered? All of my code books have the latest addenda (the old pages were discarded), and I just received my shiny new 2010 Edition of Section IX. Would it be safe to study using the latest and greatest Editions, or should I use the old ones, or does it really matter? I'd hate to get dinged on a question about something that has changed since the 2006 or 2007 Editions.
Never throw out the "old" pages of the ASME Code section! You may need them at a future time.
The ASME open book examination is a good endorsement if you are working with ASME code sections, particularly piping systems. You will need to use originals for the examinations. By that I mean you cannot walk into the examinations and use photocopied versions of the original code sections. Something about copyright laws and all that legal mumbo jumbo.
I have heard very good things about the CWS course and the examination. Unlike the CWI, the CWS course and examination includes the economics of welding operations. I’m sure there is overlap in the course content, but it is from a management point of view rather than a QC vantage point. I would have to believe it would be useful if you were interested in stepping into a management position as a move up from QC.
Best regards - Al
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