Welding in the Digital Age A professor asks young people to choose a career in welding engineering Is becoming a welding engineer a good career choice today? Welding is at the heart of many great engineering achievements. It is essential for mechanization of agriculture, generation of energy, distribution of clean water, and production of medical devices. True, in this digital age, selfdriving cars, robots for remote surgery, and other products of emerging technologies seem more exciting. But, today’s dizzying pace of progress in engineering often merges the timetested mature fields such as welding with the new fields like digital data processing into a powerful stream for the benefit of all people. Welding today is much more advanced than it was just a few decades ago, and I hope this article will help you make an informed career choice. From about 3000 welds in a car to numerous joints in large buildings, bridges, and other important structures (Fig. 1), welds are everywhere. Transportation, manufacturing, electronics, and other industries that support our standard of living depend on it. Welding-related expenditures by these industries in the United States were about $34 billion in 2000, which was about one tenth the cost of all cars sold annually. While the joining of metals has been practiced since prehistoric times, modern welding technology began after electricity became available in the 19th century. Since then, both its engineering practice and the underlying scientific knowledge base have matured. Today, structurally sound and reliable joints of numerous engineering alloys, including many that were previously considered difficult to weld, can be made with confidence. 58 WELDING JOURNAL / APRIL 2015 BY TARASANKAR DEBROY Fig. 1 — The stunning Grand Canyon Skywalk was built with round-the-clock welding in 10-h shifts. Designed to withstand large earthquakes, this huge structure consists of three steel plates, 3200 lb each. The structure houses a 3-in.-thick, heat-strengthened glass walkway (Ref. 1).
Welding Journal | April 2015
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