Class is in session for college connections

The concern about finding young talent to fill vacant spots in fab shops is an issue that has no one simple solution. A piece of the puzzle, however, is ensuring colleges are delivering what industry needs to succeed. And colleges are constantly adapting to meet those needs. Canadian Fabricating & Welding caught up with four colleges to get updates on new initiatives they are delivering to specific communities. Though these colleges may not be the closest to your shop, it may spark ideas about how you can work with the colleges that are to find new approaches to tackling your talent challenges.

Sask Polytech

Saskatchewan Polytechnic (Sask Polytech), with locations in Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Regina, and Saskatoon, has a variety of ways of supporting local shops.

“One thing our team does on a fairly regular basis is to visit shops in the area to find out if there are certain skills that people coming into their shop seem to be lacking,” said Joe Cossette, a welding and metal fabrication instructor at Sask Polytech. “For instance, it might be that we hear from a number of shops that measuring skills are lacking. We might take some extra time with that to help build that basic skill set.”

Employers have a chance to interact with students in multiple ways as well.

“For instance, we host a “careers in welding” night in partnership with the CWB Association. It gives younger students a chance to tour our facility, and employers give presentations about the work that they do.

“Before COVID, we did a lot of site visits to shops around Regina to give them an idea of how they may fit in with industry,” he continued. “That’s something we’d like to get back to.”

Cossette recommends going to your local college to find out how you can interact with the students.

“We have employers come in and do presentations to our students about what they do and what to expect on the job,” he explained. “Some come in and interview students ahead of graduation. It gives both the employer and the student an opportunity to better understand the work landscape.”

Also, Sask Polytech sometimes supports companies with post-hire training.

“A company may have screened a group of people through their hiring process, and they call on us to train them in conjunction with their employment,” Cossette explained. “For a company that doesn’t have the capacity or the skill set to train people up to a certain level, it’s a useful service. We have taught courses on-site at people’s shops on their equipment, but also in our shop. We are pretty flexible in that sense.”

The college also has supported applied research.

“We’ve had companies come to us to do feasibility studies on robotic welding,” said Cossette. “We’ve also built prototypes and research on different welding techniques for parts shops are building. The good part of that is that it gives students real-world problems to test their skills against—cutting, forming, and welding parts; doing data reports; all useful skills.”

Cossette and the rest of the Sask Polytech team think of fab and welding education holistically, though. They consider the students and employers, but also the high school teachers.

“We’re working on the possibility of teaching high school welding instructors how we do our assessments and our grading so that we can provide some continuity for students when they come out of high school. We’re working at the employer and high school level to try to bulk up everybody’s skill sets and get the students better prepared.”

BCIT

In May 2022, Mathew Smith was named director of the Centre for Welding Technologies and Metallurgy Research at British Columbia Institute of Technology’s (BCIT) School of Construction and the Environment (SOCE). This directorship is a collaboration between Seaspan Shipyards and Burnaby, B.C.-based BCIT to enhance the province’s industrial research capabilities in advanced welding and metallurgy.

Smith has been working with Seaspan and other industry members to determine the best research and educational offerings to benefit Seaspan, general industry, and the capabilities of BCIT.

The research and development aspect of the directorship has gotten off to a somewhat slow start, said Smith, but for good reason. “We had lots of ideas, it was just a matter of finding a direction that met everyone’s needs,” he said.

The main focus of applied research at Seaspan will be on automation in the shipyard.

“I would say that the first 20 per cent of construction at the shipyard is fairly well automated, but once you get beyond that, it becomes more of a challenge,” said Smith. “We will be working with a group from Simon Fraser University’s mechatronics department to survey what is and what isn’t automated and look for low-hanging fruit for mechanization. I imagine there will be a number of cases where situations can be solved with an off-the-shelf solution. But there is a reason that many jobs aren’t automated, and that is because those automated solutions aren’t ‘smart.’ They follow a straight weld and can’t solve for any deviations to that.

“The second part of our research project will be looking at ways to customize tools so that welding robots can be made a little bit more intelligent and able to adapt to whatever challenges they may face in the yard.”

The second research project is evaluating opportunities for wire arc additive technology applications.

“We will be looking at the possibility of adopting this technology for refit and repair-type work,” said Smith. “I met with a researcher from the Universidad de Magallanes in Chile who had developed a gantry-style robot to apply this technology in a shipyard setting, and I think a similar design on a larger scale could be our goal.”

On the education side, Smith is busy developing what is set to be a micro-credential course geared to bridging the gaps between welders and engineers on the shop floor, a need that he saw in industry before joining BCIT, and one that has been expressed to him by others in industry since his appointment.

“For people who are new to a welding management role, or an engineer who is interacting with welders for the first time, there are many details of each other’s jobs that they may not understand,” Smith explained. “These part-time studies courses will be geared to helping them understand each other’s language and find common ground to be more effective.”

BCIT ran a pilot course for the program, which was an introduction to welding processes including basic metallurgy, welding variables, and details of welding standards.

“The class gets into details about the process of setting a welding standard, writing a welding procedure, procedure qualification, and qualifying welders,” said Smith. “So, although someone who has welded for a number of years may know some of the welding process basics, they are learning how to manage the business side of maintaining welding standards on the job.”

Smith’s team is working on two more courses for this program, one on quality management and how to manage quality on the job, and another on welding economics.

That’s not the end of Smith’s ambitions. He hopes to see the development of a welding engineering technologist course, and perhaps other ways of upskilling welders.

“We are interested in taking steps towards developing programs that could one day evolved into a full welding engineering degree. The new Dean of the school of construction and I are interested in looking at it through a European lens, where mastering welding skills is one step on a longer educational journey.”

Lambton College

Due to its location, Sarnia, Ont.-based Lambton College is focused on serving the unique welding needs of very select industries, which differentiates it from many other colleges. In some ways, this allows for an easier dialogue between college representatives and those specific companies.

“We serve the Chemical Valley area around Sarnia, Ont., serving the petrochemical industry,” said Nikki Noble, coordinator and professor of welding at Lambton. “Traditionally, this is an area where a lot of stick and TIG welding is performed, although in the last several years it has gotten heavier into the semi-automatic processes, which is great for higher production rates.”

Noble insists that it’s her goal that nothing is done at the college without industry’s input.

“In the end, the college looks better when students are hired and the employer is getting exactly what they’re asking for as well,” she said. “In my welding techniques course, part of making that happen is actually taking students for tours of shops. These field trips are student-driven as well. I have a survey I give them at the beginning of the term asking them what career choice they’d like to use with these new welding skills. Most want to pursue joining the pipefitters or boilermakers. But then as the term goes on, I get them to think about where, physically, they want to go. If you want to be a pipefitter, great! But do you want to work inside? Outside? Do you want to work production, repair? Do you want to work a Monday to Friday job, or do you want to travel? Visiting local shops gives them an idea of what to expect. Could you see yourself working there?”

Noble’s goal is to place people in jobs where they will want to stay long term, finding the best fit for both the graduate and the employer.

“I know that’s not what everyone wants, but that’s my perspective—find the right fit for both sides,” she said. “Some employers only want short-term contracts, and for some welders, that’s an ideal arrangement. It’s making sure the expectations of everyone are met.” For shop owners and managers who approach her about young talent, Noble encourages them to be very open about precisely what they want in an employee.

“Is it a short-term contractor you’re looking for? Will the job require working on weekends, or require the person to travel long distance and away from their residence? No job requirement is a negative if you’ve got the right person who wants to work within those needs. Some people like to travel. Some people can work off shifts and even prefer that. Being upfront about these requirements will ensure that everyone ends up pleased with the situation.

“Employers have to set up their own objectives for graduates, explaining the processes they do, the positions they work in, the types of material they use, the types of shifts they run,” Noble continued. “All of this will help filter who wouldn’t want to work within those parameters. Be upfront on all the details, even if those are broad.”

Noble stays connected with as many local employers as possible, and they connect with her, advertising openings at their shops so that she can share that information with her students.

“At any speaking event I work, I tell people to go to their local college for new talent,” she said. “They have basic welding skills, but they are still moldable and can learn how to work to those specifications. Most students are still building their work ethics and behaviour, and that is a large part of the everyday demands employers are seeking. Will they show up? Will they be able to stay focused to the job they are being paid for?”

Noble also encourages employers to join their local college’s advisory board.

“This is a chance to influence what colleges teach and helps ensure colleges are meeting the needs of the industry,” she explained. “We have great representation from local industry through that group. It keeps the lines of communication open.”

Conestoga College

Conestoga College, Kitchener, Ont., probably has the most comprehensive set of welding and fabrication programs in Canada. In addition to apprenticeship and trades-level welding programs, it also offers engineering technology programs as well as welding robotics and welding inspection programs.

“We are the only college that has three-year welding engineering technology programs currently offered in Canada. That sets us apart,” said Jim Galloway, professor and coordinator of welding programs at Conestoga.

Because it is centrally located along the Highway 401 corridor in southern Ontario giving it expansive reach, it has been approached by a number of industries that want to support its program’s growth. With help from its program advisory committee, the welding and fabrication program is currently undergoing a major review, which occurs every five years to ensure it is hitting the mark with industry.

“The problem with engaging with industry from that standpoint—and it’s a good problem to have—is that it’s hard to meet everyone’s needs. The construction industry does not need exactly the same skill sets as the fabrication shop industry. And a heavy industrial plant manufacturing pressure vessels does not need the same as the automotive parts industry.

“But we try to tune programs to suit different markets. For example, because of the demand from the automotive industry in particular, we launched a two-year welding robotics technician program. Any industry that needs robotics technicians on the shop floor that can weld, who know how to make adjustments to robotics programs, are going to benefit from that. Integrators who are looking for people to assemble robotic systems will also benefit from that program.”

Galloway noted that novel arrangements with some employers have allowed students to get work experience while also gaining college credit.

“Walters Group approached us with a program that they were already running with another college,” Galloway explained. “They will take our second-year welding and fabrication technician students one day a week for on-the-job training, trying to integrate what we’re doing at the college to what they need in the shop. So we teach them what we can teach in the school environment, and then they learn at the fabrication shop, and by doing so earn hours and competencies towards their apprenticeship.”

The team at Conestoga also is conducting research that could support various industries. For instance, Galloway has a number of students working to develop wire arc additive manufacturing methods by essentially turning an arc welding robot into a 3D printer of large metallic components.

“I think there are substantial opportunities with this technology,” he said. “For instance, in the nuclear industry, which is one that we interact with regularly, if they need a replacement part, a forging or a casting, for instance, that was qualified in the 1970s or 80s, those parts are very difficult to source in North America. I’ve heard it takes years to receive large nuclear-qualified forgings. So our welding engineering technology students are testing the suitability of this method to manufacture components that could replace certain high-quality forgings or castings.”

The variety of engagement Conestoga and other colleges have with local industry demonstrates how much can be done with a little communication. However, Galloway sees two fundamental issues that he has little control over.

“The first thing is attracting students to the trades in the first place. But the second issue—and one that I’ve raised with industry leaders a number of times—is making sure the apprenticeship curriculum matches what industry needs. One of the goals of pre-apprenticeship programs is so students don’t have to repeat their Level 1 or 2 of the apprenticeship. This means that our curriculum has to be tied to the provincial curriculum. But the curriculum is out of date. Industry has to talk to government, through Skilled Trades Ontario, about this because they are who the government will listen to. They are not interested in getting that message from me.

“So, I encourage industry leaders who feel students aren’t coming to them with the right skill set from the start to speak to Skilled Trades Ontario and see how we can make improvements to modernize the Red Seal Metal Fabricator (Fitter) and Welder trades. Then those businesses have to follow through and hire apprentices, because that is also essential for the growth of the industry,” Galloway said.

Editor Robert Colman can be reached at rcolman@fmamfg.org.

BCIT, www.bcit.ca

Conestoga College, www.conestogac.on.ca

Lambton College, www.lambtoncollege.ca

Sask Polytech, saskpolytech.ca