From Arizona to Indiana, Australia, and even Japan, welders all over the world have the chance to put their skills to test against other welders. Now it’s your turn. I’ve listed three competitions out there that welders of varying skill levels are welcome to enter. Since we’re already at the end of the year, there are no more competitions for 2009. Luckily, all of these welding competitions are open yearly or bi-yearly, so you have time to prepare for the 2010/2011 cycles.
Welding Competitions
Bellingham Technical College’s Welding Rodeo Sculpture Competition
Bellingham Technical College (BTC) holds it’s annual Welding Rodeo Competition at its campus in Bellingham, Washington.
Rules:
One week before the competition, all participants must attend a “safety meeting/metal selection” event.
The competition is for welding teams, not individuals. There are a total of 20 teams allowed to participate. Each team is made up of 4 persons and teams are divided by skill levels of Amateur (High School/College) and Professional.
A workstation, two welders, an oxy-fuel cutting torch, and scrap metal are assigned to each team. Hand tools should be brought by each team; the competition doesn’t provide them.
SkillsUSA Competition – Only Open to Students
Participants of the SkillsUSA Competition have the chance to showcase their skills in a variety of arear, including welding and welding fabrication.The competition is open to career and technical education students (22 years and younger) across the United States. Only students that have won first place at the state level and are active members of SkillsUSA through their schools are eligible to enter this national contest. State level competitions must be SkillsUSA approved and the students selected to participate on the national level must meet the requirements of SkillsUSA.
The 2010 competition takes place in Kansas City, Missouri from June 19-25. Interested students should check out the official rules of the competition for more information.
United Associations of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada (UA) – UA Apprentice Competition
Like with the SkillsUSA competition, this contest is open to active members of the UA who have tackled state and regional qualifiers to get to the national level. 2007 marked the first year since 1974 that the organization ran the contest.
There are five categories that apprentices can get recognition in: HVAC, pipe fitting, plumbing, sprinkler fitting, and welding.
Information about entering the competition appears to be available only to members of the UA. There are many perks to being a member, eligibility for the competition is only one of them.
The BTC Welding Rodeo is the only one listed with relaxed rules on who can enter. What’s fun about the competition is that every year there is a different theme. This year’s theme was “SPACE.”
How much interest do you have in entering a welding competition? For those that have, what was your experience?