Center, Marion Technical College, and The Ohio State University at Marion. These schools teamed up with Yaskawa®, Faunc®, Honda®, Robot- Worx®, and Lincoln Electric to operate a training center in Marion, Ohio. The center focuses exclusively on robotics and advanced manufacturing, and welding plays a role in the curriculum. Training is hands-on and intensive. Training at RAMTEC reaches across multiple student populations: high school, college, and workers seeking to advance their skills, plus those participating in the center’s industrial training program, one that also provides them with exposure to robotics. The center now receives funding from the Ohio Department of Education’s Straight A Fund, a $250 million program designed to spur innovation in the state’s classrooms. A $15 million Straight A Fund is allowing RAMTEC to expand to eight additional centers, including Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Cleveland, Akron, Shelby, Newark, and Plain City. Students at all centers will be able to earn valuable industry credentials and become productive, educated workers. Robotics isn’t the only technology changing the way future (and current) welders expand their knowledge base. Over the past five or so years, virtual reality training has grabbed a strong foothold in both welding training and HR functions. Increasingly, more organizations on the education and business side are realizing virtual reality training offers multiple benefits and cost savings as part of a hybrid learning program and employment screening tool. At Botetourt Technical Education Center (BTEC) in Fincastle, Va., students now have the ability to lay down their first welds virtually, with the addition of Lincoln Electric’s VRTEX® virtual reality arc welding training system. This system is just one of the advanced technologies BTEC students will experience in their studies, starting this fall. The center has expanded its welding program through the addition of a new welding lab, constructed with the assistance of the Botetourt County Public Schools, the Botetourt Education Foundation, Dabney S. Lancaster Community College, and a number of private industry partners. In addition to the VRTEX simulator, the new lab features ten student welding booths, an instructor’s booth, a variety of welding machines, personal protective equipment, air ventilation and purification machines, metalworking equipment and tools, supplies, and a robotic weld cell. Closing the Gap In the end, welding is welding. You’re fusing two pieces of metal together. That basic premise hasn’t changed. But, we’re still finding new ways to do it and new tools and technology to make it happen. So, you need to ask yourself this: What do I need to do to allow my business to expand and grow? What are my technology and production goals in the next five to ten years? Where do I want to be? And who do I need to have onboard to help me make this happen? The last question might be the most important one because we need more than people who just show up to expand and grow our businesses. We need people who know how to not only weld but also think strategically and technically. People often think the skills gap is one of introductory skills. It’s not. It’s really a middle skills gap. We don’t need entry-level welders who only know how to join two pieces of metal. We need our new people coming into the industry to have the skills today that would have been considered midlevel skills five or ten years ago. It’s the whole idea of exposure to advanced equipment, processes, understanding what is happening at the arc, knowing how to use geometry, and more. And to achieve this, we have to transform how we are educating our workforce to meet our long-term goals and to maintain a competitive edge on the world stage. The welding field is maturing into a diverse group of disciplines, and we need personnel with different education and skills than we did in the past. 38 WELDING JOURNAL / SEPTEMBER 2015 WJ Dr. JASON SCALES (jason_scales@lincolnelectric. com) is manager, Educational Services, The Lincoln Electric Co., Cleveland, Ohio. For info, go to www.aws.org/adindex
Welding Journal | September 2015
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