Welders are in greater demand today than at any time during the past 30 years, and the job outlook is expected to remain excellent throughout the foreseeable future.
They are needed in energy exploration and production and are required in virtually every field or industry that uses parts made of metal. Simply stated, welders are people who join metals such as steel, stainless steel, aluminum, titanium, brass, bronze, copper, and nickel. Welding processes vary depending on the application.
Extremely delicate and precise items, such as aerospace components and jewelry, may be welded using electron beams, lasers, and plasma, while huge structures for buildings and bridges are typically welded using submerged arc and flux core.
Welding may take place in almost any setting: in a laboratory, out-of-doors, or even underwater, as in the case of offshore, oil-and-gas platform construction.
The DACC Welding Technology program is nationally accredited by the American Welding Society (AWS), and is taught by nationally qualified instructors. DACC welding instructors have extensive welding experience (nuclear, pressure vessels, aerospace, etc.), numerous welding certifications (SMAW, GTAW, GMAW, FCAW, SAW), and extensive experience teaching welding technology.
The program is competency and performance based, consisting of lectures and hands-on laboratory exercises. Students learn to weld steels, stainless steels, and aluminum alloy plate and pipe with five welding processes. They also learn basic fabrication skills, oxy-fuel cutting, plasma cutting, and air-carbon arc cutting.
The DACC Welding Technology Program is one of a handful of programs, nationwide, that has an orbital TIG unit that allows students to join tubing as small as one-quarter inch in diameter. Students are also exposed to heat treating of steel and its effects with a heat-treating oven.
All students who complete the certificate or associate degree will graduate as certified welders in one or more welding processes on steel, stainless steel, and/or aluminum. (It is important to note that, although some local welding jobs may not currently require certification, nearly all welding jobs nationwide do require it.)
DACC welding instructors are well known nationally and have many job contacts in the United States. Whether taking classes or working on a job site, students enrolled in this program will be required to perform the same job duties and meet the same physical requirements that they will as a graduate in the field.
These requirements include the ability to achieve performance qualifications using a variety or processes while welding materials in different positions.
Depending where they find employment, graduates may be required to work in extreme temperatures, to lift and safely move 50 pounds, to have good eye-hand coordination, to work safely around compressed gasses and electrical equipment, to ascend and descend ladders, to work safely in confined spaces and awkward welding positions, and to tolerate a noisy working environment.
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