News

The annual ‘Defect Detectives’ educational outreach event was hosted by TWI Ltd at its Cambridge site for a third year. The event was jointly organised, with Matt Haslett, our Younger Members Committee Chairman, representing The Welding Institute in inspiring the young minds of the year 5 pupils from Fulbourn Primary School by bringing STEM subjects to life.

The 50 year 5 pupils were tasked with an activity involving robotic inspection using Lego Mindstorms EV3 Kits and programming equipment. The students worked in small teams of 4 to 5 with volunteer experts from TWI Ltd and NSIRC helping them out. The aim was to build and program a robot which could detect defects along a simulated weld line.

Their work was put to the test at the end of the day with a final competition consisting of the students’ robots travelling along a simulated weld line, fitted with defects, to test how successfully and accurately the robots could detect the defects.

Categories and winners:

Best design – Dare to Create

Best teamwork – NEVFF

Top Team – Dixie

The Welding Institute congratulates all pupils who took part in the competition for their enthusiasm towards their work!

Educational outreach days like this allow young pupils to understand real life applications of engineering and what it actually means to be an engineer. It allows the stereotypes and misconceptions of the engineering industry to be challenged by young minds as they are given the opportunity to see the extent of the engineering industry, all whilst promoting teamwork and design skills.

The successful event was jointly organised by Catherine Condie, Matt Haslett, Gabriela Gallegos and Ameni Lounissi with the support of 20 volunteers from TWI.

The event was organised in association with TWI, Granta Centre, NSIRC volunteers, and the Tipper Group, including support from the UK Robogals series. Cambridge Launchpad, a movement that aims to inspire people into STEM careers, were responsible for organising the ‘Defect Detectives’ engineering challenge.

The Welding Institute is pleased to announce that TWI Team Manager, Miles Weston is the recipient of the Young Engineer Award 2020!

The Young Engineer Award is awarded to an individual aged under 40 who has contributed significantly to the advancement of welding technology throughout the five years preceding the year of the award. The annual award was introduced by ESAB (UK) in recognition of Leslie Lidstone, who was a managing director for the company and whose work significantly contributed towards the welding industry within the UK and Sweden.

TWI’s Miles Weston has been awarded the Young Engineer’s Award due to his work and experience within the past five years. This includes his progression from the role of Project Leader to Team Manager at TWI. Within these roles, Miles has led and managed the development of an advanced inspection technique, leading to the technique now being developed with multiple sector industrial collaborators to standardise and accept it. Miles has also contributed to the development of students through his involvement with students at Strathclyde University where he takes on the role of a PhD external examiner. This, combined with the 17 journal publications (with over 90 citations) that he has produced, exemplified Miles as a worthy recipient of the Young Engineer Award.

Find out more about the Young Engineer Award here.

The Richard Dolby Rolls-Royce Prize 2020 has been awarded to TWI Project Leader Madie Allen.

The Richard Dolby Rolls-Royce Prize is awarded biennially, by The Welding Institute’s Younger Members Committee, to an individual who has demonstrated success in, and enthusiasm for, welding, joining and/or materials engineering within the first five years of finishing their full time education.

The award is judged based upon a technical report that candidates have submitted, along with a short presentation on the project subject.

Madie Allen is a PhD student, in coordination with NSIRC and Brunel University and received the award for her project, ‘Predicting the microstructure of metal additively manufactured parts.’ This project looked at the wide-scale adoption of additive manufacturing and aimed to help address the associated issues with this technique through developing and validating numerical models that can predict the microstructure of metal additively manufactured parts.

The Welding Institute congratulates Madie Allen for her work and commitment in receiving the Richard Dolby Rolls-Royce Prize 2020.

To find out more about the Richard Dolby Rolls Royce Prize click here.

The Outstanding Personal Contribution Award was established in memory of Harry Brooker, an engineer who, during the 1930s, played an important role in introducing low temperature silver brazing alloys into British industry. The award is sponsored by Johnson Matthey plc where, later in his career, Harry Brooker became a Chief Executive and Managing Director.

During his time at Johnson Matthey plc, Harry Brooker encouraged and promoted research with The Welding Institute on resistance welding of aluminium. Harry Brooker’s work and support of the joining industry is the basis for the Outstanding Personal Contribution Award, with recipients needing to demonstrate their personal contribution to the science, technology and industrial exploitation of materials joining.

The award commends an individual who has demonstrated high industrial research or educational responsibility positively and beneficially to encourage the advancement of materials joining technology.

The winner of the Outstanding Personal Contribution Award 2020 is Professor Jicai Feng, who works for the Chinese Institute for Welding. Professor Feng has been awarded the Outstanding Personal Contribution award due to his commitment towards industry development related to joining processes. Professor Feng has both a Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) and a Masters of Engineering (MEng) degree. He achieved a PhD from the University of Osaka and was briefly the president of the China Welding Society. His experience and work underline the significant impact that he has had, including:

• Inventing over 190 Chinese patents
• Managing projects involving producing solutions associated with joining dissimilar materials in industrial applications
• Research focused on the joining of dissimilar materials including joining ceramics with metals and dissimilar metals, using processes including brazing, welding brazing and diffusion bonding
• Publishing over 450 SCI-indexed papers

The Welding Institute would like to congratulate Professor Jicai Feng on winning the Outstanding Personal Contribution Award.

To find out more about the Outstanding Personal Contribution Award please click here.

The Wales Skillweld Competition 2020 was hosted by Neath College on 6 February, 2020. 

This first stage of the competition is called the Passive Heat round and involves candidates completing a list of welding geometry. This round is an excellent opportunity for candidates to gain both practical and competition experience which, in turn, will help them in future rounds of the competition including the National Qualifiers and National Finals.

Candidates of the Wales Skillweld competition were tasked to complete four weld types. The first involved using the welding process of MAG to produce a tee fillet plate in the PF welding position. The second task was to use the MMA welding process to weld pipe to plate in a PB welding position. The third task involved using the TIG welding process to produce a tee fillet plate in the PC welding position. The final task was to use the TIG welding process to weld pipe to pipe in a PC position.

Judges of the competition have commented on the high levels of skill displayed by competitors at this first level and said that it was a promising start for many candidates for when they entered the higher rounds. They commended the overall production of good quality weldments and noted that all competitors should be proud of their accomplishments.

The Skillweld Competition is an excellent way for a new generation of welders to develop their skills and learn from experienced personnel within the welding field.

Click here for more details and to apply.

The Skillweld Competition 2020 is now open for registrations! 

What is The Skillweld Competition? 

This Skillweld Competition has been created to assess the skills of trainee welders in three manual fusion processes. They will be required to complete and produce four weld tests. 

The aim of the Skillweld Competition is to promote the development of a skilled workforce that will be equipped to meet the needs of the UK welding industry. It is an excellent opportunity for students and trainee welders to learn new skills and gain hands-on experience of the practical application of these welding processes.

The main objectives of the Skillweld Competition are:

To help trainee welders develop their welding skills in a competitive and pressurised environment 

• To encourage trainee welders to be inspired about their future careers in welding
• To test trainee welders’ knowledge and skills against a set criteria
• To encourage employers/training providers to reflect on their own apprenticeship schemes and training programmes 

Why should employers/training providers get involved?

Through allowing your employees/learners to compete in the Skillweld Competition, you are enhancing their experience and knowledge within welding and therefore also investing in the future of industry. 

Closing date for competition entries is 27th March, 2020.

To find out more about the Skillweld Competition, click here!

Click here to enter!

The Welding Institute is proud to support apprenticeships and their ability to develop capable individuals into having successful careers within the engineering industry.

What is National Apprenticeship Week?

National Apprenticeship Week is an annual week where apprenticeships and apprentices are celebrated and recognised throughout England. It looks at the successes and inspirational stories of apprentices and enables employers to promote the benefits of employing apprentices.

Our Role:

As one of the members of a number of ‘Trailblazer Employer Groups,’ The Welding Institute is able to encourage the current and future development of trailblazer standards including the:

• Pipe Welder Apprenticeship Standard 
• Plate Welder Apprenticeship Standard
• The Nuclear Welder Inspection Technician Standard

The Importance of Apprenticeships:

Apprenticeships are beneficial to both the apprentice and the employer. They are an excellent opportunity for apprentices to get into a career that they are interested in whilst gaining official qualifications (which will later help them progress once their apprenticeship has been completed). 

At the same time apprenticeships allow employers to gain a dedicated employee who will be gaining industry knowledge and qualifications at the same time, which in turn will be utilised within their work. 

It is vital that we encourage individuals to pursue a career in engineering due to the need and demand to fill future engineering jobs. Engineers play an incredibly important role within society, and The Welding Institute are dedicated to inspiring people to take on this career path. The Welding Institute’s Younger Member Network is dedicated to representing the interests of younger members, and developing the next generation of engineers. Members of the network promote the importance Professional Registration and Continuous Professional Development (CPD). Members who are also STEM Ambassadors participate in STEM outreach activities at primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities. 

AWFTE and The Welding Institute Joint Forum - Technical Challenges and Innovations in Welding Engineering 

The Welding Institute’s Southern Branch and AWFTE will be jointly hosting a forum focusing on the ‘Technical Challenges and Innovations in Welding Engineering.’ The event will be hosted by Portsmouth University on 13 March, 2020. It will cover topics including marine engineering, materials welder training and education in Southern England.

The day will include technical presentations and talks from industry experts, discussing new and existing applications, including current research projects. There will also be an opportunity for attendees to put questions to an expert panel. Attendance of this event is an excellent opportunity for those in the education and employment sectors with an interest in training and developing their career within the welding engineering industry.  

Who Should Attend?

• Lecturers, teachers and trainers engaged in welding engineering
• Employers with an interest in workforce development
• Ambassadors for industry and education

Benefits of Attendance:

• Gaining knowledge and experience from leading industry experts
• Networking with industry experts and personnel within the field
• Learning about new innovations and solutions
• The opportunity to ask industry experts questions that you may have
• Attending the event qualifies you to gain CPD points

Welding and Repair of High Temperature Plant

This Joining Processes Technical Group Meeting (TGM) event will be hosted at the Granta Centre (Great Abington, Cambridge) on March 18, 2020. The focus of the event will be based on the Welding and Repair of High Temperature Steels, looking in detail at the processes involved with this welding technique.

Why is the Welding and Repair of High Temperature Plants important?

Industry led objectives to produce life-extension techniques for structures are becoming increasingly prevalent due to the costs and economic impacts of ageing power generation and process plants. It is important for you as a welding engineer, production manager, designer or a personnel associated with the repair of creep resistant steels to keep your knowledge up to date with industry standards and practices.

The main topics that will be covered in the Technical Group Meeting include:

• Cladding of pressure vessels
• The welding and weld repair of creep resistant steels
• Welding repair of high temperature plants
• Additive manufacture of high alloy components
• Orbital welding for repair and replacement
• Trailblazer welder apprenticeship standards

Why should you attend?

• Technical Group Meetings are one of The Institute’s Membership Benefits therefore allowing Members to attend this event at a discounted price
• Attendance enables you to gain CPD points 
• It is an opportunity to network
• It also allows you to develop and further your knowledge of this joining process

To find out more about Membership of The Welding Institute please view our Membership Page and see how we can support your career and development.

The Welding Institute and Armourers and Brasiers will be jointly presenting the annual Armourers and Brasiers’ Awards on 14 February, 2020. The awards are in recognition of the continued education and research within the materials science and metallurgy sector.

Award Categories:

Final Year PhD Student - £1000 prize: The winning student will be a final year PhD student, with a significant quantity and quality of published papers that show evidence of novelty of work and the communication of science as part of a transition to independence.

MSc Student - 

£750 prize: This prize will be awarded to the student who has performed consistently overall in the module section of courses offered in any one year. The winner will have shown academic and personal promise during their academic studies.

BEng/BSc Student - 

£750 prize: The winner will have demonstrated excellent examination results at undergraduate level, including a high mark and commendation in a prescribed project report.

STEM Ambassador of the Year - 

£500 prize: This award recognises significant voluntary contribution to the STEM Ambassador Programme in the field of materials joining and structural integrity.

NSIRC Travel Awards – 

Travel grants of £500 - £1000 to assist with the travel and subsistence costs associated with attendance at relevant international conferences.

Award nominations close on the 14 February, 2020.

Click here to make your nominations.