AWS Education Program
8:30 AM – 9:00 AM
Howard E. Adkins Memorial Membership Award Lecture
The Howard E. Adkins Instructor Membership Award is sponsored by Mrs. Wilma Adkins and family, and is given as a means of recognizing high school, trade school, technical institute or junior college instructors whose teaching activities are considered to have advanced the knowledge of welding to students in their respective schools. Each awardee receives a certificate, two-year membership in the American Welding Society and free registration to attend the Fabtech Show and all technical sessions in the year that the award is presented.
Scottie C. Smith - Northwest Florida State College
9:00 AM – 9:45 AM
The ABC’s of Starting and Running a Private Welding School
Dave Lynnes - Lynnes Welding Training, Inc.
9:45 AM – 10:00 AM
Break and Networking
10:00AM – 11:00AM
Adams Memorial Membership Award Lecture
This award, established by the American Welding Society, is given as a means of recognizing educators whose teaching activities are considered to have advanced the knowledge of welding of the undergraduate or postgraduate students in their respective engineering institutions.
Professor Wei Zhang - The Ohio State University
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Plummer Memorial Lecture
This award has been established by the American Welding Society to recognize an outstanding individual who has made significant contributions to welding education and training, and to recognize Fred L. Plummer's service to the Society as President from 1952 to 1954 and Executive Director from 1957 to1969. A certificate and bronze medal are presented at the annual Awards Luncheon held during AWS show week. Professor Richard T. Stone is the 2015 Plummer Memorial Award recipient. Professor Stone conducted a comprehensive study to evaluate the cognitive and physical impact of virtual reality (VR) integrated training vs. traditional welder training methods. Participants in this study were randomly assigned to one of two separate two-week training courses taught by sanctioned AWS CWIs. Upon completion of training the participants were given the opportunity to test for certification. This study demonstrated that participants in the virtual reality integrated training group performed as well as, and in some cases significantly better, than the traditional welding training group. Dr. Stone will discuss the benefits of virtual reality technology as a training aid to reduce training time and improve skill levels, compared to traditional welder training methods alone.
Scott L. Burdge, RD Dradge Career Technical Center
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
Lunch & Presentation Sponsored by Hypertherm, Inc.
12:30 PM – 1:15 PM
Cutting Technologies
Jim Colt - Hypertherm, Inc.
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Reasons Why Welds Crack, But Were Afraid to Ask
Larry R. Zirker - Zirker Technology and Consulting
2:30 PM – 3:00 PM
Safety & Liability: Risk Management for Welding Educators
Robert Udy - Salt Lake Community College
3:00 PM – 3:15 PM
Break and Networking
3:15 PM – 3:45 PM
Beginner’s Guide to Design of Experiments – Application to Paint Adhesion and Weld Settings
Christopher Bertoni - 4Front Engineered Solutions
3:15 PM – 3:45 PM
Robotic Arc Welding Interfacing
Joshua Williamson - Fronius
