Welding Technology

Welders are more in demand now than in the past 30 years, with job opportunities expected to stay strong. They are essential in almost every industry using metal parts, offering diverse career paths. These range from precise aerospace work with electron beams and lasers to large-scale structural welding using submerged arc and flux core for buildings and bridges. Welding is adaptable, used everywhere from labs to underwater environments.

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 also 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 who complete the certificate or associate degree will graduate as qualified welders in one or more welding processes on steel, stainless steel, and /or aluminum. It is important to important to note that although some local welding jobs may not currently require certification, nearly all welding jobs nationwide do require it. 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. Students are also exposed to heat treating of steel and its effects with a heat-treating oven.

DACC welding instructors are well known nationally, and have many job contacts in the United States. Whether it’s 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 on employment, graduates may be required to:

• Work in extreme temperatures
• Lift and safely move 50 pounds
• Have good eye-hand coordination
• Work safely around compressed gasses and electrical equipment
• Ascend and descend ladders
• Work safely in confined spaces and awkward welding positions
• Tolerate a noisy working environment