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EWI launches large-scope welder training program

EWI, Columbus, Ohio, an organization for manufacturing, welding, and joining, has launched a program to educate and train 25,000 welders in the U.S. over the next three years. The Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action, finalized on June 14, 2013, at the Clinton Global Initiative America (CGI America) Manufacturing Working Group meeting in Chicago, is aimed at helping to stem the critical shortage of skilled replacement workers facing U.S. companies as the economy continues to improve

EWI and its affiliate RealWeld Systems Inc. will use the RealWeld Trainer™, a motion-capture system that tracks and measures a welder’s technique during live welding, to develop badge credentials for industry-specific welding procedures based on the Mozilla Open Badges standard. These badge credentials and welding procedures can be incorporated into an existing curriculum of welding instruction.

The American Welding Society (AWS), Weld-Ed, and The Manufacturing Institute have joined the endeavor as partners to help develop training standards, build on best practices, and define a certification system. Once in place, the program will be implemented through a network of 200 community colleges, career centers, and training sites.