“Build Dakota” Scholarship Program Represents a $50 Million Investment Governor Dennis Daugaard recently announced South Dakota will partner with local businessman and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford, owner of First PREMIER Bank/PREMIER Bankcard, to establish the Build Dakota scholarship program. This will offer full scholarships for students entering high-need workforce programs at in-state technical institutes. Welding is included in the covered industry areas along with precision manufacturing, building trades/construction, and automotive. “The establishment of this scholarship will mean that each year hundreds of our young people will have the opportunity to enter highdemand fields without incurring debt. The impact of this will be huge, not only for the students who receive the scholarship, but for our entire state which has been faced with workforce challenges,” Daugaard said. In addition, the governor has committed to matching Sanford’s $25 million donation with $25 million in Future Funds to create the Build Dakota Scholarship Program. This $50 million investment is expected to provide 300 full scholarships annually in each of the first five years, beginning this fall. From 2020 on, an endowment will continue to award approximately 50 scholarships per year. Available to in-state and out-of-state students, awardees will commit to staying in South Dakota to work in their field of study for three years. More information can be found at www.builddakotascholarships.com. Welding Students at College of the Canyons Gain Laser Precision Experience The College of the Canyons welding technology department has recently installed a HDEm pulsed laser weld monitoring system at the Valencia Campus, Santa Clarita, Calif. “Normally, when you’re using a laser welder, we’re talking about using a focused light (laser) beam to do the welding,” explained Tim Baber, chair of the college’s welding technology department. “But since the laser welding process is very fast, it’s hard to get an accurate real-time assessment of the weld quality. Our new laser weld monitor measures certain properties of the laser beam and the welded metal, which provides feedback so instructors can assess the quality of NEWS OF THE INDUSTRY 16 WELDING JOURNAL / APRIL 2015 Education and Training Focus Welding is among the industry areas covered by this new scholarship. As pictured above, a welder performs shielded metal arc welding at the 2013 South Dakota SkillsUSA Competition. For info, go to www.aws.org/adindex
Welding Journal | April 2015
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