On April 12, Conestoga’s School of Engineering & Technology welcomed the community, including industry partners and donors, to a virtual showcase highlighting the college’s welding programs and student success.
Co-hosted by the CWB Association Conestoga Student and Kitchener chapters, the event featured a keynote address, project presentations and a student awards ceremony. The association is a not-for-profit division of the CWB Group and aims to promote and support the welding and joining industry across the country through educational and professional development programming. Conestoga is the only college in Canada to have a student chapter and one of only three post-secondary institutions represented.
“The world is changing, particularly for our industry with the tight labour market and the demand for skilled labour being more challenging than it has ever been,” said Duane Pike, vice-president of packaged gases at Linde Canada, in his keynote address to students. “The need for companies to compete on a global scale is probably more so than ever. I believe that there is no better time to be coming into our industry than now where you can showcase your talents and help companies improve and become more efficient and more profitable in what they do.”
Final-year students from the Manufacturing Engineering Technology - Welding and Robotics program presented capstone projects, representing a culmination of the knowledge and skills acquired over the length of the program. For their project, Ethan Little and Devin Paquette examined gap bridging capabilities of Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) and Metal-Cored Arc Welding (MCAW) in both reverse and straight polarity for lap and edge joints. In GMAW and MCAW processes, reverse polarity is often utilized to obtain maximum heat. Although not widely used, straight polarity is possible. Little and Paquette tested both polarities to better understand suitability for bridging joint fit gap during welding.
Students Kevin Liu and Farid Shigapov investigated different 3D CAD software programs to help produce a tool path for manufacturing using a Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) process. Their capstone project focused on the integration of 3D part modeling with creating robot tool path programming.
Conestoga’s School of Engineering & Technology offers a comprehensive suite of programs with a wide range of credentials. Programs feature project-based learning, co-op work experience and applied research opportunities to prepare graduates for success in their chosen fields.