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Flint Hills Technical College. Programs and Majors.
Welding

Mission:

To provide a diverse community of learners with lifelong learning opportunities for personal growth and preparation for professional and civic responsibilities that meet the needs of society.

Career Paths:

Construction workers are employed in almost every type of construction. Welding is the most common way of permanently joining metal parts. In this process, heat is applied to metal pieces, melting and fusing them to form a permanent bond. Because of its strength, welding is used in shipbuilding, automobile manufacturing and repair, aerospace applications, and thousands of other manufacturing activities. Welding also is used to join beams when constructing buildings, bridges, and other structures, and to join pipes in pipelines, power plants, and refineries. Other applications include the manufacturing of small electronic devices, medical components, and nanotechnology – the latest development to revolutionize the world of materials.

Welding is all around you. Every day in thousands of shipyards, automotive assembly plants and construction sites, highly trained welders are working to build the structures and products on which the American economy depends. These professionals are behind the scenes welding the very backbone of industry and your world.

Welders who know a variety of welding methods using a wide array of tools and procedures could find themselves working on oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, or on top of the tallest buildings in New York City. Or maybe you would rather operate your own welding business. Well, with a welding career, it’s possible. Welding employment opportunities are diverse and skilled welders can choose from a variety of openings both nationally and internationally.

The Industry:

The FHTC Welding program works closely with national, regional, and local industry that require, hire and specialize in welding and fabrication.  These partners advise FHTC on the needs and standards of industry.  Currently our industry partners include:
            Sauder Custom Fabrication
            Praxair
            Lincoln Electric
            Wolf  Creek Nuclear Energy
            Westar Energy

Opportunities in the welding field are endless and can be extremely rewarding – and because it is widely used in construction, manufacturing, and many other industries, employers have a constant need for skilled welders. Welding is an important part of our nation’s growth and stability. In fact, for those who are involved in the welding industry, there is a strong conviction that a large part of the U.S. economy is dependent on welding, and that continued advances in the field help to drive this nation’s productivity and strengthen its financial stability.

There is a multitude of career options in the welding industry. Whether you enjoy working with your hands, traveling the world, inspecting and analyzing things, working with numbers, communicating or inspiring others, there is a career opportunity available in the welding industry.

The Program:

Prerequisites

Must be 17 years of age.

Instruction

FHTC’s Welding program is an intensive, three part, nine week certification program. The three courses build on a foundation to advance the student quickly into a set of marketable skills for an in-demand career.

Introduction to Welding
This course teaches the student welding and cutting safety and the introductory fundamentals of shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), gas metal arc welding (GMAW), oxy-fuel cutting (OFC), oxy-fuel welding (OFW), and brazing. This course also provides the student with a technical understanding and practical application SMAW, GMAW, OFC, OFW, and brazing processes.  The Student will learn arc welding safety, power sources, electrode classification and selection.

Basic Welding
This course teaches the student welding and cutting safety and the basic fundamentals of , shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), gas metal arc welding (GMAW), flux cored arc welding (FCAW), plasma arc cutting (PAC) and American Welding Society (AWS) welding symbols. The student will learn to develop a technical understanding and practical application of gas metal arc welding, welding safety, equipment adjustments, shielding gas, and metal transfers. It provides training necessary to develop the skills to make quality gas metal arc welds on mild steel plate using the short circuit transfer process.  This course also provides the student with a technical understanding of shielded metal arc welding, safety, power sources, electrode classification and selection. It provides training necessary to develop the skills to make quality shielded metal arc welds on mild steel plate, using low hydrogen, mild steel, and iron powder electrodes.

Advanced Welding
This course provides the student with a technical knowledge and practical application advanced welding.  The student will learn how to produce multi-pass groove welds with and without backing bar in the horizontal, vertical and overhead positions using shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), flux cored arc welding (FCAW), Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW), and Air carbon-arc cutting (CAC-A) processes.
Prerequisites: The student must have passed the Introduction to Welding and the Basic Welding courses.

Program Cost Sheet
Program Supplies List

Courses

Advisory Members

Instructor(s):

Chris Renwick

Student Organizations: