ESAB Sponsors Welding Competition

For the sixth consecutive year, ESAB Welding & Cutting Products (Florence, SC) sponsored the Florence-Darlington Technical College Welding Sculpture Competition to support the school’s welding education program and student scholarship fund.

This year’s competition, held April 11 at the Francis Marion University Arts International Festival, saw ten teams of professional welders and welding students from across the region compete to create welded sculptures from scrap metal to fit the theme of Nature. The artwork, ranging from a whimsical lily pad to an intricate shark, was auctioned off to raise $10,000 for welding scholarships at FDTC.

The day-long event tested the technical cutting and welding skills of the competitors and challenged the teams to be creative and organized. The resulting sculptures were judged by a panel of local artists.

From the four professional teams competing, Nucor Steel (Darlington, SC) won first place for their striking sculpture of a Hammerhead shark. Second place winner was the General Electric team with a rendering of a nature scene including blooming flowers, elaborate foliage and a Venus flytrap. Singleton Steel Company (Sumter, SC), took the third place win. ESAB welding and cutting equipment and personal protection products were awarded to these top three winning teams.

The amateur team of Dillon ATECH won first place with their welded sculpture of a functional garden chair. Other amateur division winners included the Florence Career Center taking second place, and Darlington County Institute of Technology (DCIT) as the third place winner. The Dillon ATECH team was awarded four Warrior Tech auto-darkening welding helmets and a certificate for $5,000 worth of their choice of ESAB equipment. The second and third place amateur teams won high-tech welding helmets and up to $2,500 in ESAB products.

ESAB has long partnered with Florence-Darlington Technical College to advance FDTC’s welding education program, and helped establish the school’s Advanced Welding and Cutting Center. Approximately 60 students enter the welding program each semester. The high demand for graduates of the school’s specialized programs, such as pipe welding, pipe fitting and valve technicians creates an increased need for funding and scholarships.

“Welding is basically the backbone of numerous industries that we often never think about. The next time you are in a car, on an airplane or riding by a manufacturing plant just think of the thousands of welds performed to make our lives more enjoyable,” said Ben Dillard, the FDTC president. “And you may not initially realize that in addition to a very high skill level there is also a high degree of art involved in the world of welding.”

FDTC’s welding program helps fill a growing need for welders. According to the American Welding Society, the United States will experience a significant shortage of welders in the next five years, that’s more than 200,000 by the year 2020.

www.fdtc.edu

www.esab.com