More than 200 teenage competitors will converge on Ferris State University’s Swan Technical Arts Building Friday, May 3 as a 20th State Secondary Welding Competition and a fourth year of contests for student machinists will be held in laboratories of the School of Manufacturing and Design.

This is the 40th anniversary of Ferris’ Welding Engineering Technology Bachelor of Science degree program, which is the largest of its kind in the nation.

Professor and Welding Engineering Technology coordinator Jeffrey Carney is an alumnus and co-founder of the welding competition. 

He points out more than 100 graduates of Ferris State’s Bachelor of Science degree in Welding Engineering Technology participated in these categories as high schoolers.

“Our goal in this competition is to see every student guest gets full exposure to our facilities, along with complimentary gifts made possible through collaborative efforts of Ferris’ Academic Affairs office, the College of Engineering Technology and very supportive industry partners,” Carney said. “It is a pleasure to see t-shirts given out in past years worn into our labs by students whose first campus visits came about in this competition. Ferris scholarships are also available to champions of our competition.”

Carney said judges assess skills in five welding processes, with more than 140 students from 35 schools, intermediate districts or regional educational service agencies set to participate this year. 

Manufacturing Engineering Technology Program Coordinator Mark Rusco said more than 60 students from 16 institutions will test their abilities in milling, working with grinders or lathes, or metrology, the practice of precision measurement.

“Industry sponsors donate tools that are distributed to our guests, helping with short-term learning and when they return as Ferris students,” Rusco said. 

He said because the demand for machinists is so strong, sponsors will staff tables to recruit prospects that day for their own training programs and career opportunities. 

“There will be teachers on hand who have brought students each year of the competition, some whose relationships with Ferris go back several decades,” Carney said. “We are glad to help supply their labs with materials to continue their learning and knowledge of the skills their students can master by pursuing Associate or Bachelor of Science degrees in the field.”

A $30 million renovation and expansion of the Swan Technical Arts Building was completed in 2018, accentuating world-class instructional and laboratory facilities for several College of Engineering Technology programs.