Welding Education Through The American Welding Society?

Answer 1

For many years in this country, technical craftsmen, like welders, were seen as semi-skilled workers, with little need for education beyond the basic technologies and techniques of their trade. Welders, as an example, were viewed as little more than guys and gals in masks with a blowtorch, joining pieces of metal together. There’s a lot more to welding than meets the eye.

Modern welders have more joining techniques available to them than ever before, including soldering, brazing, arc welding, and casting and bronzing. While you can still begin a career in welding with technical training and a high school diploma, many contemporary welders go on to get two-year associate degrees from technical and community colleges or bachelor of science degrees in welding engineering.

Welders need to know much more than how to turn on the blow torch and apply it to the metal. They need to know basic metallurgical theory, physics, and math. They must understand the properties of a variety of metals and how they react to different kinds of heat applied in different ways. It is a highly skilled profession.

Regardless of where they got their basic training, many welders turn to the American Welding Society for further education and certification. Visit their home page at aws.org, and you’ll find an extensive list of educational offerings, many leading to a variety of levels of certification. There are programs for Certified Associate Welding Inspectors, Certified Welding Inspectors, Senior Certified Welding Inspectors, Certified Welding Supervisors, and Certified Welding Engineers. You can be certified for different welding applications, like Arc Welding, Welding Fabrication, and Radiographic Interpretation. There are less technical certification fields as well, including Certified Welding Educator and Certified Welding Sales Representative.

Certification requirements are detailed on the web site, and AWS offers intensive five-day preparatory seminars for most of these certification exams. They have Accredited Test Facilities in 28 states in the continental United States and eight foreign countries, including China, Mexico, Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Viet Nam. The AWS web site also contains helpful information on careers in welding and technical schools and colleges offering degrees in welding.