{"id":3310,"date":"2018-08-15T09:25:18","date_gmt":"2018-08-15T09:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=3310"},"modified":"2018-08-15T14:06:52","modified_gmt":"2018-08-15T14:06:52","slug":"new-tstc-welding-technology-program-poised-to-get-students-to-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=3310","title":{"rendered":"New TSTC Welding Technology Program Poised to Get Students to Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

(ABILENE) \u2013 The first group of Welding Technology students walking into the Industrial Technology Center at Texas State Technical College later this month will be in for a pleasant surprise.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new building next to Abilene Regional Airport will have state-of-the-art equipment for automated welding and metallurgy, said Ashley Yezak, TSTC\u2019s statewide department chair for Welding Technology. The building will open Monday, Aug. 27, for the start of the fall semester.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMetallurgy students go to work with engineering companies or for companies with engineering departments,\u201d said Yezak. \u201cThey can develop new welding procedures.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The automated welding equipment is the first of its kind among TSTC\u2019s four West Texas campuses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yezak said the kind of students who succeed in welding are those who are comfortable working with their hands or have relatives involved in the welding field.<\/span><\/p>\n

Area employers are seeking welding graduates with such experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mike Petty, owner of West Techs Chill Water Specialists in Abilene and a 1986 Welding Technology graduate of Texas State Technical Institute (now TSTC) in Waco, said job candidates for basic welding are readily available but those who do fitter welding are a challenge to find.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey have to know a little trigonometry and understand how to measure and cut pipe on angles,\u201d said Petty. \u201cIt\u2019s more than just welding the pipe together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Petty said the oil and gas industry can determine the job candidate pool.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWest Texas has a lot of welders because of the oil and gas field,\u201d he said. \u201cThe problem is when the oil prices go up, we have a shortage of welders, and when the prices go down, we have a surplus of welders. It all hinges on that oil price.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeremy Bartz, human resources director at Hirschfeld Industries in San Angelo, said he has recruited Welding Technology graduates in the past from TSTC. The company has a fabrication plant in Abilene.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bartz said a majority of the company\u2019s work on large industrial, nuclear and structural projects throughout the world is wire welding.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can bring in three and four at a time to train,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to have experienced welders to go in and go to work. If we train somebody, we want them to come to work for us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Texas State Technical College will offer the Associate of Applied Science degree in Welding Technology starting this fall in Abilene. Yezak said having the associate degree available gives certificate students at TSTC\u2019s Breckenridge, Brownwood and Sweetwater campuses the option to continue their welding education.<\/span><\/p>\n

Students can also earn certificates in structural welding or structural and pipe welding for the first time this fall in Abilene.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yezak said Abilene\u2019s welding programs can open up opportunities for high school students seeking dual credit and for prospective students in rural areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Besides the Welding Technology program, the Industrial Technology Center will house new programs in Industrial Maintenance and Electrical Power and Controls and will be the new location for the Emergency Medical Services program.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(ABILENE) \u2013 The first group of Welding Technology students walking into the Industrial Technology Center at Texas State Technical College later this month will be in for a pleasant surprise. The new building next to Abilene Regional Airport will have state-of-the-art equipment for automated welding and metallurgy, said Ashley Yezak, TSTC\u2019s statewide department chair for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abilene"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3310"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3311,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3310\/revisions\/3311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}