TSTC Brownwood Hosts Welding Competition

The Brownwood campus of Texas State Technical College West Texas hosted a high school welding competition for area students on Friday.

The competition featured two categories: on-site skills and projects. The skills contest allowed students to showcase their talents, and the projects category judged a project that was completed prior to the competition and brought for judging.

Five schools attended the competition and learned more about TSTC and welding. High schools students from Bangs, Cherokee, Coleman, Eastland and Priddy attended. Projects from a barbeque pit to a complex hydraulic buffalo squeeze shoot and working pens were entered in the competition.

TSTC Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management Brian Kight explained that many people do not realize that with just one or two semesters of education, some students are able to be placed into a career and become part of the much needed workforce, earning a higher pay and contributing to the economy of the cities in which they live and work. According to Kight, through hosting the welding competition, TSTC is able to “build an experience to teach students about the possibilities of technical education.” Kight stated that TSTC is very focused on helping their students with career placement. Approximately 93% of their students get jobs right after completing their education and of that approximately 73% find work in their field of study.

Priddy High School had a successful day at the competition, earning first and second places in both the large and small projects categories. Prizes won for these projects included items such as a torch kit, a welding hood, welding shirts, goggles, pliers, and hammers for the school.

The large project which won first place was the large squeeze shoot and pens. The project was built for a doctor from the Lubbock area who owns a ranch that supplies buffalo meat to a large grocery store chain. The doctor bought the material and the school supplied the labor to build the project. In exchange, the doctor allowed the students to take the buffalo squeeze shoot to competitions at major shows including San Antonio and Houston. Priddy won Grand Champion at both shows with the project.

In the skills competition, Nathan Carpenter of Cherokee took first place and Logan Richards placed second. Both Carpenter and Richards received $250 TSTC scholarships which are good for any course at any TSTC West Texas campus. The skills contest consisted of a written portion and hands-on welding skills to build a project from blueprints.

Students also were able to win door prizes donated by businesses in the area and TSTC.

A state-of-the-art mobile welding lab was also on display which is a self-contained lab with 8 welding stalls and a classroom. The public was allowed to walk through and even try their hand at welding. The mobile lab was designed and fabricated to allow TSTC West Texas to take welding instruction to remote locations to serve both industry and educational institutions. It is this flexibility that allows the school to customize training to fit the customer’s needs. As the need for qualified welders in the Big Country continues to grow, this invaluable tool will help fill those positions with trained workers.

The competition was sponsored by the following:

Air Gas

Victor Welding Products

Miller’s Welding Products

Loadcraft

Lincoln

Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce

Lauren Engineers and Constructors

The judges for the day were from Texas Juvenile Justice Department and Lauren Engineers and Constructors.

Pictured at top are members of Priddy FFA in front of the buffalo shoot. Below are more pictures of the event.