Ma2JIC awarded inaugural NSF START grant to train welding interns from other institutions

Posted: 
Ohio State welding engineering professors, students, Weld-Ed interns
Participants of the inaugural START internship program are joined by faculty and students of Ohio State's welding engineering program

The Ohio State University is home to one of the nation’s only welding engineering programs offering Bachelor’s, Master’s and doctoral degrees. It’s a program known for producing sought-after graduates who are experts in materials joining thanks to the program’s world-renowned professors, immediate access to state-of-the-art equipment and a steady supply of industry-sourced research projects.

Academia responds to an industry in need

Economic and global stresses amplified a drought of skilled workers in the United States. Production is stifled. Job openings continue to outpace resignations. The proportion of skilled workers to available jobs in technical fields like welding is significantly unbalanced. Seemingly each industry initiated programs or incentives to fill in employment gaps. Thanks to Weld-Ed, or the National Center for Welding Education & Training, Ohio State is helping shift the uneven paradigm of skilled labor. Weld-Ed is funded by the National Science Foundation and managed by Michael Fox at Lorain County Community College in Elyria, Ohio. Their mission is to “support the pipeline of welding technicians in industry” by partnering with institutions like Ohio State “to provide comprehensive professional development, curriculum enhancement and technical assistance to high school, community college and university welding technology programs and faculty…”.1

The collaboration between research universities and community colleges is made possible through funding programs such as the NSF’s new Skills Training in Advanced Research & Technology (START) initiative. Weld-Ed and the Manufacturing and Materials Joining Innovation Center (Ma2JIC) launched the START pilot internship program thanks to a supplement to Weld-Ed’s initial grant.

Ma2JIC is a NSF IUCRC managed at Ohio State by Professor Antonio Ramirez, it includes five additional partner institutions from across the country. Dr. Ramirez and other members of the welding engineering faculty and student body administer materials joining research for industry member companies. Weld-Ed and Ma2JIC formed the curriculum for the START program in summer 2021, and Ohio State hosted welding technician students and faculty members from community and technical colleges for a hands-on training opportunity during spring semester 2022.

Building the team

Tiffany Norman, assistant director of Ma2JIC, coordinated the internships at Ma2JIC with Alli Kurzawa, Participant Coordinator at Columbus State Community College.

Columbus State Community College students Christian Apiado, Kyle Vandergriff, Mary Loy, and Yakima Amadu participated in the inaugural internship program at Ohio State’s welding engineering facility under the direction of welding engineering faculty. Each had a different project and experience that they recapped for an audience of students, staff and researchers from the welding community on May 19.

“The opportunity for Columbus State students to participate in the internship at Ohio State included opportunities to explore options for further education and welding in a more exploratory and experimental way. Students provided practical, hands-on experience to the research teams, and mutually benefitted from learning about cutting-edge technology innovating the welding industry,” shared Kurzawa.

 

START Program Student interns

Christian Apiado Columbus State Community College Welding
Christian Apiado
Welding Associates of Applied Science
Columbus State Community College, Spring ’22
Ohio State advisor: Professor Desmond Bourgeois

Research project: Grooves Welding

Christian made double-v groove welds on plates provided by Professor Bourgeois. He ran non-destructive testing experiments by using ultrasonic inspection equipment to find defects in welded materials. Apiado wants to be a certified welding inspector (CWI) and said he can apply what he learned during his internship at Ohio State to his career as a CWI.


Kyle Vandergriff
Kyle Vandergriff
Electromechanical Engineering Technology Associate of Applied Science
Columbus State Community College, Autumn ’22
Ohio State Advisor: Professor Antonio Ramirez
Ohio State paired student: Eng. Andres Acuna

Research project: Welding of Hyper Duplex Stainless Steels

Kyle conducted testing on hyper duplex stainless steels using Charpy testing, drop welds and impact testing. The materials he studied are used in marine applications where heat exchange rates are elevated. He has a previous degree from Ohio State and plans on returning to earn his B.S. in welding engineering.

“The experience was completely worth it. It opened my eyes to a different side of engineering, and it’s been very rewarding.”


Mary Loy Columbus State Community College welding
Mary Loy
Welding Associate of Applied Science
Columbus State Community College, Spring '23
Ohio State Advisor: Professor Antonio Ramirez
Ohio State paired students: Austin Tiley, Jacob Rindler

Research project description: Microstructure modification of materials during 3D printing

In-situ mechanical deformation was conducted during printing to improve the material and component performance in this project. Mary supported the project by providing welding parameters optimization and robot programming. She made weld beads that were deconstructed with a peening hammer to create different crystalline structures. Multiple iterations were created until the team found the correct granular structure. “We wanted to maintain the outside structure of the nuggets while studying the inner material at different phase temperatures,” explained Mary during her presentation. The team measured the time and temperature of each weld phase to find the range where the optimal granular structure appeared.

The process allowed her to understand different chemical structures of metals and create a new piece by joining dissimilar materials. “This experience allowed me to see the science and engineering part of welding. Manipulating the molecular structure of materials being joined is a whole different experience than seeing photos in a book. Overall it was a very cool experience!”


Yakima Amadu Columbus State Community College welding
Yakima Amadu
Welding Associate of Applied Science
Columbus State Community College, Summer ’22
Ohio State advisor: Professor Boyd Panton
Research thrust area: dual laser hot wire

Visiting faculty

Joel Johnson North Dakota College of Science welding education
Professor Joel Johnson
Welding Technology
North Dakota State College of Science
Taylor Sabo Lorain County Community College welding education
Taylor Sabo
Welding Program Coordinator, Instructor
Lorain County Community College

 

Click on photo below to view photo reel

Weld-Ed START Program May 2022

Activating a welding movement

Beyond the materials joining research element of the internships are the intangible implications on the U.S. economy that begin upon completion of each person’s research internship.

Student interns disseminated what they learned to classmates at Columbus State Community College.

Visiting faculty have a better understanding of how to prepare students for research methods as well as how to effectively transfer research projects among institutions. For Sabo, a secondary takeaway concerned logistics. Future internship opportunities for LCCC students includes a 100-mile commute to Ohio State's main campus.

As the U.S. experiences a skilled technical workforce draught, partnerships between community colleges and research institutions like Ohio State are reinforcing their missions and finetuning their programs to support industry needs thanks to initiatives like Weld-Ed and START.

The next group of interns will begin in spring 2023. Contact Tiffany Norman for more information.

 

1 Welcome to Weld-ed. www.weld-ed.org. Accessed June 16, 2022.

By Libby Culley,  Senior Communications Specialist  |  Department of Materials Science and Engineering  |  culley.36@osu.edu  

Ma2JIC partner institutions

Colorado School of Mines

Lehigh University

The Ohio State University

Pennsylvania State University

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

University of Waterloo

SMART Program Contact at Ohio State

Tiffany M. Norman, MSHE

Assistant Director, Operations
Manufacturing and Materials Joining Innovation Center (Ma2JIC)
College of Engineering | Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Edison Joining Technology Center
1248 Arthur E. Adams Drive

Columbus, OH 43221

614.247.4538 Office

404.556.7662 Mobile