I once read where Japan churns out 100 welding engineers for each welding engineer produced in the USA.

The number of welding engineers graduating from OSU is less than 50 per year. Compare that to the number of mechanical engineers or electrical or chemical engineers produced by the other universities. To be honest, I have no recent data on the actual number of welding engineers that graduate annually from OSU. It been a good while since I've seen any data, but I remember there were only about 12 undergraduates in my class back in the late "60's."

One "problem " expressed by one OSU professor is that a good number of WEs end up in management positions within about 5 years of graduation. As a result, they are removed for the arena for which they were prepared by their university training.

Several WEs that I know are very active in providing training and consulting services and several work for large defense contractors managing various programs related to welding. Several are working in positions that have very little to do with welding or welding research. The curriculum for a WE is very broad allowing the WE to move laterally and with some experience, into management positions.

Best regards - Al