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Washtenaw student to represent U.S. in welding competition

Alex Pazkowski of Saline, Mich., a student at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Mich., will represent the U.S. in Leipzig, Germany, in the welding competition during the biennial WorldSkills Competition, July 2-7, 2013. A member of SkillsUSA, the Leesburg, Va., organization that represents the U.S. in the WorldSkills Competition, he will compete on the U.S. WorldTeam.

Pazkowski was awarded the high school gold medal in welding during the SkillsUSA Championships in June 2010 and won the right to compete in the WorldSkills competition during qualifying trials at the AWS/SkillsUSA U.S. Invitational Weld Trials held at FABTECH® 2012 and at the Weld Finals competition, held in February 2013 as a part of Speedweek at the 2013 Daytona 500. He also successfully completed other qualifying prerequisites before being chosen for the team.

In the WorldSkills welding contest, competitors must be able to read and interpret drawings and specifications; set up welding equipment in accordance with the manufacturers’ specifications; select the required welding process as designated on the drawings; set and adjust welding parameters as required, including welding polarity, amperage, voltage, wire feed speed, travel speed, torch/electrode angles, and mode of metal transfer; perform welding in all positions on plate and pipe for all nominated processes as detailed in ISO 2553 and AWS A3.0/A2.4; weld steel plate and sections using manual, gas, and flux-cored arc welding processes; weld steel plate, stainless steel sheet and sections, and aluminum sheet and sections utilizing GTAW; and clean welds using wire brushes, chisels, and scrapers.