JVS puts welding on the cutting edge
Lisa Roberson | The Chronicle-Telegram
PITTSFIELD TWP. — Manufacturers want welders and fabricators trained to work with robotic cells and plasma cutting tables, and now the Lorain County Joint Vocational School boasts the tools to produce those students.
It’s a wave of the manufacturing future that 17-year-old Nick Hornby of North Ridgeville never imagined he would be a part of when he signed up for the program.
But now that he has the opportunity to use computer software to generate precision cuts on large sheets of metal, he is prepared to ride the technology into a good-paying job.
“Everybody says ‘It’s just welding. It’s easy,’ when I tell them I’m in a welding program, but that’s not true,” the high school senior said. “You come here and learn why, how and what needs to be done to do it right.”
With the start of the new school year, students began classes in the new career-technical facilities of the school. While the $1.7 million renovation project upgraded the classrooms and labs in four areas, it was the welding and fabrication lab that had the biggest improvements.
Outfitted with new equipment to prepare students for the robotic, semiautomated phase of the industry, the 5,000-square-foot lab is one of the most advanced vocational labs in the state.
“These youngsters are the guys to work for the next 50 or 60 years, and they are going to see more and more automation technology in their careers,” said Mark Schreiber, welding and fabrication instructor. “I started in the field long before I came to the JVS in 1991, and I remember thinking robots and computers could never replace a trained welder.”
The technological advances in the industry played a major role in how the project took shape, JVS Assistant Superintendent John Nolan said.
“We went to the businesses that would eventually be the ones to hire our students and asked them what kinds of skills they are looking for in employees,” Nolan said. “What we saw was technology that was more advanced than what we had at the school. Welders were using plasma cutting tables that allowed for more efficiency and robotic cells to complete welds with more precision.”
Those trips led to the inclusion of the plasma cutting table, where students use a computer to cut metal with super-heated air molecules, not torches; and the Motoman robotic cell, which allows students to custom write computer programs that guide an automated welding machine.
Also included in the design was the addition of 25 unique welding booths, where students learn how to operate multiprocess welding machines while a new fume extraction system siphons gases from each.
Renovations also were made to the industrial electricity, plumbing and pipefitting, and maintenance services labs in the building.
With a projected increase of more than 44,000 new welding jobs in the next 10 years, the investment into the program will pay off in the future, Superintendent William Aubuchon said.
“The need for skilled welders and machinists has not diminished any — although there has been a significant loss of manufacturing jobs,” Aubuchon said.
“Welders will always be needed. The very nature of their expertise allows them to shift from one industry to another as the need changes. It’s our job to give them the skills to do just that.”
Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-721 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.
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Filed by Lisa Roberson | The Chronicle-Telegram October 2nd, 2008 in Local and State. Popularity: 1% |
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