Ohio Student Wins SkillsUSA National Welding Competition

Connor Roberts, a high school student from Willoughby-Eastlake Tech Center (Willoughby, OH) took home the gold medal from the SkillsUSA Championships that were recently held at the Exposition Center in Louisville, KY. He beat out the field in the high school division of the national welding competition and will be presented with a POWER MIG® 210 MP multi-process wire feeder/welder valued at more than $1,100 from The Lincoln Electric Company (Cleveland, OH), as well as $500 from The James F. Lincoln Foundation (JFLF). Ryan Eubank, Roberts’ welding instructor, will also be awarded a POWER MIG 210 MP.

“As part of the JFLF welding awards program, we proudly support SkillsUSA and its mission to empower the professional welders of tomorrow,” stated Carl Peters, the director of technical training at Lincoln Electric. “This welding competition is designed to prepare students for a career in the welding field.”

More than 6,000 career and technical education students, all state contest winners, competed in 100 different hands-on trade, technical and leadership fields during the 52nd SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference, which included the SkillsUSA Championships. Participants in the welding competition were scored on a variety of assessments. The first was a 50-question multiple choice quiz. The second was a one-minute presentation to a panel of three judges on an assigned welding topic. Students were scored on their knowledge of the topic, manner of presentation and how they conducted themselves during the presentation.

Finally, contestants were tested on various aspects of welding including: measuring weld replicas, using weld measuring gauges; laying out a plate and using oxy-acetylene equipment to cut several holes that are checked for accuracy and quality; gas metal arc welding (GMAW) on steel, making welds in various positions using short circuiting transfers; flux cored arc welding (FCAW) using a shielding gas, making welds in various positions; and using a combination machine capable of providing the correct welding current for shielded metal arc (SMAW) and gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). Competitors completed the steel project and welded an aluminum project in various positions using a variety of filler metals.

Lincoln Electric is a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of arc welding products, robotic arc welding systems, plasma and oxy-fuel cutting equipment and has a leading global position in the brazing and soldering alloys market. They have 48 manufacturing locations, including operations and joint ventures in 19 countries and a worldwide network of distributors and sales offices covering more than 160 countries.

www.lincolnelectric.com, www.skillsusa.org