INTRODUCTION

It has been recognised that materials joining is a ‘key enabling technology’ without which it is impossible to sustain an industrial economy.

The essential resource required to maintain manufacturing and fabrication industries are people. The decline of manufacturing industry in many countries over the last decade has led to an unprecedented loss of skilled manpower and a considerable reduction in the effort devoted to training. In the USA it is reported that whilst there will be an increasing demand for engineers in the next five years, fewer engineering students will be available for industrial employment and as a result of the ageing work force and the effect of early retirement programmes there will be an increasing loss of professional engineers. Even in Japan there is already a shortfall in the number of welding operators and the reason given; that welding is regarded as "dirty", "hazardous" and "unattractive to young people" is reflected in many developed industrial nations including Australia. In fact materials welding and joining offers many exciting challenges in a unique multidisciplinary subject area. These challenges include the need to find efficient ways to join new and higher strength materials, reduce the hazardous nature of the processes, and to make effective use of new techniques such as robotics.

It is clear that if a strong industrial base is to be maintained in Australia there is a need for an educated and skilled workforce.

WELDING EDUCATION AND TRAINING

In the past the requirements for education and training in welding and fabrication in Australia have been dictated by the need to satisfy the requirements of industry for welders, welding supervisors and welding engineers. In the case of welders this has been geared towards Australian Standards AS 1796 and AS 2980 whilst for Welding Supervisors Australian Standards AS 1796 and 2214 have also defined the requirements. Training for both of these groups has been provided by the TAFE system and, in the case of welders by commercial training providers. The education and training of welding engineers in Australia was until recently less well defined. A post graduate course was at one time available at RMIT but this was withdrawn when it became undersubscribed.

In the last 5 years the international situation has undergone some significant changes which is expected to impact on Australia. The most important of these are:

ISO 3834 has now been incorporated in Australian Standards (as AS 3834) and with the international adoption of the EWF guidelines the European scheme will become even more relevant to Australasia. It is therefore worth considering the details of the original European guidelines and their evolution into an International Institute of Welding system. These guidlines establish several levels of knowledge requirements for welding personnel. In each case a detailed syllabus, prescribed course of study, and rules for the conduct of examinations has been established. The main four levels are:

The new term which has been introduced in the quality standards is that of Welding Co-ordinator (AS 3834). Some important aspects of the Welding Co-ordinators role are:

The new welding quality standards (EN 729 and ISO 14731) define suitable knowledge requirements for Welding Co-ordinators by reference to the European Welding Engineer and European Welding Technologist schemes.

The Welding Engineer is expected to be responsible for major decisions associated with the design, cost and safety of fabricated structures. The field of welding technology is multidisciplinary and involves a knowledge of metallurgy, mechanical and manufacturing engineering, electrical engineering and process technology as well as management and quality assurance. The requirement for a Welding Co-ordinator is to some extent a recognition of both the breadth of knowledge and responsibility involved.

Australia is represented in the IIW by WTIA and is actively involved to ensure that the development of the international welding qualifications is consistent with Australian requirements.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR WELDING ENGINEERS

The Collaborative Research Centre for Materials Welding and Joining (now the CRC for Welded Structures) set up courses at Adelaide and Wollongong Universities to address the education requirements of welding engineers in Australia. These courses were based on the 446 hour European Welding Engineer Syllabus and lead in the first instance to Graduate Diploma or Masters degrees. The courses have been offered in part time evening, part time modular or full time format and some distance learning material was also developed. All of the courses cover the basic principles of materials welding and joining, effects of joining on material performance , joining processes and equipment, design of welded structures, fabrication techniques, quality assurance and management aspects. They also include practical welding, NDT and metallographic examination. In addition; special topics cover joining automation, computer aided welding and reclamation and repair.

Both Adelaide and Wollongong courses have been accredited by the European Welding Federation in order that students who have a first degree in engineering or science can sit the European Welding Federation examination, and if successful will be awarded the European Welding Engineer (EWE) qualification. The EWE qualification will be convertible to International Welding Engineer when the IIW system is adopted. The advantage of both the EWE and IWE qualifications is that they will be internationally recognised and automatically meet the ‘demonstration of knowledge’ for Welding Co-ordinator Group 1, which is called for in EN 719 and ISO 3834. These qualifications offer the individual recognition to operate within the requirements of the new quality standards as well as enabling the employer the means to carry out contracts which stipulate compliance with the standards.

The European Welding Technologist qualification corresponds to the requirements for Welding Co-ordinator Group 2, and represents a potentially much larger group of people. The taught element of the prescribed course is reduced to just over 300 hours. The entry requirements are lower and set at Incorporated engineer level in Europe. Unfortunately there is currently no agreed equivalent to incorporated engineer in Australia and WTIA is at present trying to establish a suitable alternative entry requirement.

The specialist and practitioner qualifications are similar to those already offered in Australia and are not immediately affected by the quality standard requirements. This situation is however under review to ensure suitable courses are available (probably through the TAFE system) in the future.

SUMMARY

Reduced training activity in welding and joining is beginning to be reflected in a shortfall in the number of engineers required to sustain a viable fabrication industry in Australia. In contrast the international trends in the welding quality area are generating a need for more qualified personnel. The development of suitable courses by the CRC for Welded Structures is an attempt to address these problems but its success depends on the recognition of the need for skilled and qualified personnel and the appropriate support from industry.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Since this article was originally published in 1998 there have been some major developments in Australia. In particular: