The National Center for Welding Education and Training (Weld-Ed) is a national partnership between the welding and materials joining industry and the nation's community and technical colleges and universities that is dedicated to expanding the role and pipeline of welding technicians in the industry. Weld-Ed brings together the American Welding Society (AWS), industry partners Lockheed Martin and Lincoln Electric, 140 business/industry affiliates, 66 educational affiliates, and ten Regional Center Partners. This project has the following goals: 1) Develop a national welding educators' certificate program; 2) Expand professional development for welding faculty in new technologies including blended learning, virtual simulation, and new and emerging welding processes; 3) Expand and increase the effectiveness of the Center and its Regional Partners Network to address market-driven needs, including regional welding technician specialization, and the use of distance learning applications in sharing curricula between institutions and in delivering coursework; and, 4) Develop and implement a strategy to deliver technical assistance and consulting services to community and technical colleges, universities, K-12 school districts and the welding industry.
The Center activities enable other community and technical colleges in the U.S. to partner with their local K-12 school districts, adult education and institutions of higher education to expand welding technician education in their area. Many of those same institutions as well as two-year colleges that are currently offering welding technician education are able to add welding specializations that better meet the needs of their regional welding employers. The project enhances and expands professional development opportunities for welding educators by developing a national welding education certificate program and a master welding educator certificate that can be offered by current and future Weld-Ed partners throughout the U.S.
