A refinery is a complex array of pressure vessels, piping, structural carbon steel, and other components that depends on welding for its structural integrity. A minor problem can have enormous cost and safety implications.

Talk about a can of worms ... From crystalline structures to phase diagrams and interstitial solutions, from microstructures to allotropic transformations, it sometimes seems that for every question metallurgy can answer, for every problem it can solve, it creates two more.

In the year 2000 manufacturing, construction, and mining industries had $34.1 billion worth of welding-related expenses. At the same time more than a half million people in the U.S. had welding-related jobs -- and that's not counting self-employed and nonproduction welders.

Using orbital welding equipment led to productivity gains in one of the nation's first fusion-welded underground pipelines.

Using orbital welding equipment led to productivity gains in one of the nation's first fusion-welded underground pipelines.