djohnson@mojonews.com
SALINEVILLE Utica Shale Academy students should soon be able to learn the basic skills of welding through a virtual welding machine.
The USA board last week approved a partnership with Lincoln Welding and the purchase of a virtual Lincoln welder.
Bill Watson, superintendent of the USA, told the board this machine allowed him, someone who had never welded before, to go from a poor score of 27 percent to a good one in the 80s after utilizing it a few times.
Board member Mark Chronister also had gone with Watson and Matt Gates, the instructor for the program, to see and try out the virtual welder 3-D simulator. Chronister said the virtual welder gives students a chance to learn the skills virtually, then transfer those skills to real-world hands-on welding.
DEANNE JOHNSON
SALINEVILLE Utica Shale Academy students should soon be able to learn the basic skills of welding through a virtual welding machine. The USA board last week approved a partnership with Lincoln Welding and the purchase of a virtual Lincoln welder.
Bill Watson, superintendent of the USA, told the board this machine allowed him, someone who had never welded before, to go from a poor score of 27 percent to a good one in the 80s after utilizing it a few times.
Board member Mark Chronister also had gone with Watson and Matt Gates, the instructor for the program, to see and try out the virtual welder 3-D simulator. Chronister said the virtual welder gives students a chance to learn the skills virtually, then transfer those skills to real-world hands-on welding.