Hi! My name is Vanja, and I'm a teacher in welding, cutting and joining methods in Sweden. Welding has been my profession for the past 20 years, and I have been teaching for 12 years. The pictures I'm going to show you are from Tingsholmsgymnasiet in Ulricehamn, Sweden. I don't work there at the moment, but I made a few practice weeks there, and enjoyed it a whole lot! The industrial technology programme is just one of many programmes at Tingsholm. The students learn about different techniques, and milling and welding is just two of them.
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Milling and turning machines in the main workshop at Tingsholm,
early in the morning before the students arrive... |
The school puts a lot of effort into introducing the students into new technology. I know it doesnt look like that on the pictures, but that's the truth. The students gets to learn a lot about robotics, CNC, CAD and CAD/CAM, and in my opinion quite little about the actual craftmanship behind the technology, but hey, I'm probably just old fashioned! ;)
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CNC milling and turning machines.
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The welding methods that are taught are mig/mag, tig, mma and oxyacetylenewelding. This part of the programme is merely "just for trying", so that the students gets an idea of what it's all about.
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| Just a glimpse of the welding workshop. Neat, isn't it? |
There are aproximately 19000 welders in Sweden and there are room for more. The need for educated welders are huge.
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| A student tries spray arc welding with metal core wire. |
Many of the students gets employed after graduation, and some of them gets extra job at summer holidays and weekends even before that. I noticed, during my practice weeks, that the students really seemed to enjoy their education. Most of them were in good mood most of the time, paid attention to their teachers, and performed really well during their lessons. As I have been teaching for a few years now, I've seen both ups and downs, and kids who don't enjoy school much at all. That was not the case at this programme though, and I'm happy for that.
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| Nice try! Spray arc welding with metal core wire is a sight for sore eyes. |
