MSCC to Add ‘Real-World’ Welding Fabrication Area

Mid-South Community College will increase the physical size of its Welding Technology lab inside its current location and will construct a new building for maintenance equipment that will be displaced by the program expansion.

MSCC’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved the $600,000 project at its June meeting.

Ed Cook, Lead Faculty for Welding Technology, said the additional space will be used to mirror conditions and situations welders face on the job, like pipe, confined-space, and aerial welding.

“We’re calling it a ‘real-world welding fabrication’ area,” Cook said. “Our advisory committee encouraged us to do this because, while our students are great welders, they sometimes have difficulty when facing a challenging work environment.”

“We’re going to give them an opportunity to learn by experience what it’s like in the real world. As far as I know, there’s not another school around that is doing what we plan to do.”

In basic welding classes, students generally perform assignments and projects in a booth at a table. They have the opportunity to arrange their environment to their liking.

“In the real world, that doesn’t happen,” Cook pointed out. “We won’t be using booths or tables in the new fabrication area. We’re going to be teaching students how to weld while adapting to their surroundings, which aren’t always ideal.”

“We’re going to have an overhead beam where students will be required to climb and weld at an awkward angle. Our goal is to make our training as real as possible so our students will be better prepared for workplace challenges.”

In another exercise, students will work with a 36-inch diameter pipe that is 3-4 feet long. They will be asked to fabricate and weld inside the pipe. “That’s a situation they might see on the job,” Cook said.
MSCC President Dr. Glen Fenter told board members that the expansion is needed to meet the growing demand for welders in the Memphis Metro Area.

“There are a number of specialty welding training needs that are fueling a lot of regional demand,” Dr. Fenter pointed out. “We want to be ready to accommodate those people. With this facility expansion, we’re going to be empowered to do that. We’re going to offer some specialty welding courses that people can’t get in Memphis, which is a good niche market for us.”

Equipment costs for the project will be minimal because MSCC has already secured most of what is needed through a Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant from the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration.
“There will be some equipment expense but not much,” Dr. Fenter said. “We have a lot of equipment that grants have bought us, so we’re in pretty good shape. In that $600,000 number, we think we’re pretty close to what it will take to get us everything we need.”

Cook said the newest equipment is state of the art and can be networked into the lead instructor’s computer. As many as 16 different welding procedures can be programmed, and the instructor can monitor a student’s progress via computer.

“It’s what industry is going to, so we’ll be able to expose our students to the newest technology,” Cook said.

The welding expansion project will add approximately 4,300 square feet to the existing welding lab, a move that makes the most sense for a variety of reasons.

“We want to use the current building because it’s more student-friendly to have the welding program all in one location,” Dr. Fenter said. “It is also important that the welding lab stay in the existing structure because the electrical infrastructure required for welding is already in place. We would have to replicate that if we were to house the additional area in a different location.”

Instead, Mid-South will add a 4,000 square foot free-standing building west of the current facility.
“We need to add square footage somewhere else because we’re displacing a big portion of the existing maintenance shop in our expansion process,” Dr. Fenter said.

MSCC’s president said the project has been under consideration for quite some time, and “we have people ready when we pull the trigger. We probably can’t get a contract in force before June 30, but I have talked to the ASU System people and told them we want to make this happen. They are certainly comfortable with that.”

“If we start today, although we won’t have it ready in August, we won’t be far beyond that. By the time we get to Memphis and really start pushing welding programs, you’ll be looking for new enrollments by the spring.”

For more information about MSCC’s welding program, other technical training, or general education opportunities, visit the campus at 2000 West Broadway in West Memphis, call the Admissions Office at (870) 733-6728, email admissions@midsouthcc.edu, or see the website at www.midsouthcc.edu.