Learn How to Attract New Students to the Trades at NCPWB25

April 27–29, 2025 | Clearwater Beach, FL

The NCPWB Technical Conference is just around the corner! Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to learn, share, and connect. This year’s conference is packed with valuable content and unmatched opportunities to network with friends, colleagues, and new acquaintances. We’re also introducing for the first time, an exhibitor showcase on Monday afternoon where you can see the latest and greatest welding technologies.

SESSION HIGHLIGHT

Varsity Welding
with Keynote Speaker Demi Knight Clark of Spark Building Group

Welding has been pegged as an “alternative” career path by everyone from high school guidance counselors to parents. The stigma is real – with high school students facing overwhelming pressure to choose college over a trades path in 88% of students.

So how do we change the game? Come listen to Demi Knight Clark, change maker, on empowering women+ & girls in trades with onboard programs.

Additional sessions will cover these cutting-edge topics:

Orbital Welding Solutions for Restricted Access Applications: Field construction often challenges welders with applications where there is very little space to fit a manual torch or a weld head. Joint proximity to pipes, walls and other obstructions can make a relatively easy weld difficult to execute. In other cases, lack of direct line of sight may force a welder to use mirrors or other implements, drastically increasing the level of execution difficulty. Presented by: Janusz Bialach, P.Eng, Division Manager, Liburdi Group.

Welder Continuity Record Keeping: Proper welder record-keeping requires a commitment to good communication. This session will cover the exchange of information between the UA local Authorized Testing Facilities and the NCPWB chapters they work closely with. Presented by: Bob Derby, Training Specialist, United Association.

Implementing Advanced GMAW (HyperFill^®) to Overcome Industry Challenges: There are many challenges when welding piping including the shortage of skilled labor, capital purchase justification, increasing throughput, and implementing new technology. This session will explain the benefits of the HyperFill^® and HyperFill-STT^® advanced GMAW processes and how they can be used to solve these challenges. Presented by: Chris Wilson, Welding Engineer, Lincoln Electric and Daniel Snell, QA/QC Manager, Mollenberg-Betz, Inc.

Advancing Pipe Welding with Autonomous Technology – Addressing Labor and Fit-Up Challenges: Autonomous technologies are transforming industries, and pipe welding is no exception. Faced with the dual challenges of skilled labor shortages and inconsistencies in pipe fit-up, the adoption of autonomous systems offers a path to increased precision, efficiency, and quality. By leveraging advancements in vision systems, image processing, and real-time adaptive controls, autonomous welding solutions are addressing these persistent issues head-on. Presented by: David Jordan, Director, Global Growth & Strategy, Novarc.

Best Practices for Thermoplastic Pipe Installation Focused on Welding, Supports, and Pipe Stress Design: This session will discuss best practices for thermoplastic systems including piping installation, sleeves, pipe guides, fixed points, vertical supports, change of direction supports, continuous supports, valve supports, other design considerations, bullet proofing your system, and different welding technologies. Presented by Casey Williamson, Georg Fischer.

The Ultimate Pipe Spool Welding: Welding spool pipes presents unique challenges. Unlike beams, pipes feature an open root that requires real-time control of the penetration depth. Additionally, the imperfections inherent in pipes mean that preparations are always a compromise, rendering each weld to be slightly unique. Achieving perfection in such conditions relies on the ability to dynamically adjust to these inherent irregularities. Real-time control over the weld pool is essential to achieve this. Trying to approach this problem by finding a way to make perfect and repeatable preparations has been unsuccessful. Instead, the solution lies in using a welding robot equipped with adaptive welding control. See the solution McCarl’s used to automate their pipe spool welding. Presented by: Stamati Georgaris, VP Rotoweld, Tecnar and Jon Bushmire, Operations Manager, McCarl’s.

Welding of Duplex Stainless Steels: Duplex Stainless Steels are a family of stainless steels that contain a dual microstructure of ferrite and austenite which give them unique properties. These materials are currently in widespread use throughout industry in numerous applications. Due to their many benefits these steels are rapidly growing in popularity. However, duplex stainless steels must be welded correctly in order to maintain the intended properties in service. This presentation will include discussions of lessons learned, special fabrication considerations and much more. Presented by Stan Gingrich, Weldmet Consulting Eng.

Breakout Session Table Topics: Engage in an interactive discussions to share insights, ask questions, and provide input on various topics.

• Chapter Administrator Duties and Documentation facilitated by Walter Sperko, Sperko Engineering
• Additional session topics are being developed and will be announced in the coming weeks.

Don’t miss the chance to be at the forefront of welding innovation! Join us at NCPWB25 for these industry-leading presentations and the information you need to stay on top of other welding issues. Register today!