prize was Brian LaRou, a pipefitter from Morris, Ill. The $1000 prize for second place was taken by William DeBold, and the $500 third-place winner was Robert Hacker from Hurricane, Utah. In addition to the three money winners, there were nine others who received prizes of welding-related items. Those winners were Larry Clark, George Rolla, Keith Cusey, Thomas Fassier, Nick Lerma, Tim Kinnaman, Mark Mitchell, Greg Larson, and Tanner Thompson. The competition was organized and run by the Indiana Section with Tony Brosio acting as the chairman of the Professional Welders Competition Committee. He was assisted by fellow Section members, wives, and volunteers from a local educational facility. Personnel from Servo-Robot assisted in laser scanning the welds. Robotic Arc Welding Contest Nineteen contestants entered the first-ever AWS Robotic Arc Welding Contest held Nov. 19 and 20. Entrants had to take a 20-min multiple-choice test on welding fundamentals and robotic arc welding systems, then undergo a timed performance test in which they had to demonstrate familiarity with the components of a robotic arc welding cell, program the machine to weld a test coupon, weld the coupon, and visually verify the coupon’s quality. A team of AWS CWIs judged the competition according to the criteria of AWS D16.4, Specification for the Qualification of Robotic Arc Welding Personnel. The top three finishers were Jennifer Hildebrandt (gold) (Fig. 21), a welding technology student at Milwaukee Area Technical College; Jeff Steiner (silver), a welding engineering technology student at Ferris State University who also works for Polaris Industries; and Mike Kimball (bronze), an AWS CWI and robot programmer for Jay Mfg., Oshkosh, Wis. In announcing the winners, Vern Mangold, D16 Committee vice chair, commented that sometimes a person gets a chance at redemption, noting that Hildebrandt had placed second in June during a similar contest held during the AWS Milwaukee Section’s National Robotic Arc Welding Conference. Miller Welding Automation and Wolf Robotics provided the robotic welding cells for the competition. In addition, ServoRobot provided personnel and equipment used for scoring the coupons. The purpose of the event was to draw attention to the AWS Certified Robotic Arc Welding (CRAW) program. Hildebrandt said she initially wasn’t going to participate because she hadn’t touched a robot since June, but her instructor and classmates urged her to compete. “I entered for the possibility of training,” she said. “It was challenging. There was pressure with the time limits with the practical exam.” Kimball said he found the written portion the most challenging. As a relatively experienced programmer, he was more comfortable with the practical exam. Hildebrandt will receive AWS CRAW training and the complimentary opportunity to sit for an actual CRAW certification exam. The three top finishers also received AWS duffle bags. Plan Ahead for Next Year FABTECH 2014 will be held Nov. 11–13 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. It will once again be North America’s largest welding, metalforming, and fabricating event. For more information, visit www.aws.org/expo.◆ WELDING JOURNAL 51 Fig. 19 — Contestants were required to weld all around a 1⁄4-in. tube set at a 60-deg skew. Fig. 20 — In addition to visual inspection, a laser scanning device was used to determine the final winners. Fig. 21 — Jennifer Hildebrandt and Mike Kimball placed first and third, respectively, in the firstever AWS Robotic Arc Welding Contest.
Welding Journal | January 2014
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