On Saturday March 10th, our Section hosted a Careers in Welding presentation coupled with an Intro to MIG Welding Workshop for women, led by Samantha Farr from Women Who Weld.
A few years ago, Samantha started the non-profit Women Who Weld in Michigan to help underemployed women to launch careers in welding. Through fundraising campaigns, she is able to offer free training to women who desperately need a career. Samantha works with local employers in Michigan to help her program graduates find work as welders in local manufacturing plants and shops. She is successfully changing many lives through hard work and dedication. Her endeavor takes her to many places around the country where she offers one day workshops to introduce women to welding. Through this fundraising campaign, she is exposing women to welding, encouraging them to explore career opportunities that normally women would not consider or even be aware of its existence.

Samantha’s efforts are aligned with the AWS’ efforts to bring more women into the field. As a women in welding, Section Chairman and Operations Manager at the California Welding Institute, I was thrilled to learn about Samantha’s efforts and offered our Section’s support.

Our industry partners, Temescal Canyon High School, Fronius, Action Gas & Welding Supply, California Welding Institute, Westchester and National Standard made it possible for this event to happen. Fronius provided the welding equipment, which included three MIG machines, one Stick and one TIG; Westchester provided welding gear and National Standard (a women owned corporation) the welding wire. Temescal Canyon HS and Action Gas & Welding Supply provided material and gloves.

In the morning, we opened the doors to the public, offering three rounds of presentations about careers in welding. In spite of rain, we had about 20 attendees, many of whom were young women. At noon, Samantha kicked off the workshop with a presentation about her organization and her welding career. Then, Fronius representative Jose Arellano showed us how to use state-of-the-art Fronius equipment, and Samantha led the workshop. Originally, the plan was to teach women how to weld using GMAW (MIG); however, Fronius graciously provided an arc welder and a TIG welder as well, so women had a chance to weld with all three processes, which made the event even more exciting.

Our Section’s Technical Representative, George Rolla, SCWI and expert welder of 43 years, provided support. He worked with Jose Arellano to set up the Fronius machines and get them dialed in for the workshop. George describes the Fronius equipment as truly out of the ordinary welding machines, surpassing every expectation a welder could have. The MIG welders are so versatile, with an absolutely incredible stable arc, performing like nothing that George has ever seen in the 43 years he’s been welding. Coupled with National Standard’s high end welding wire, the Fronius Transsteel MIG machines welded like a dream.
The Fronius TIG Welder was small in size but performed like a giant, even running on a battery pack that can be plugged in and charged during use when power is available. It produces a super smooth arc, with incredibly precise pulsing, not only producing an aesthetically good looking weld, but one that would produce high quality welds, surely to meet the acceptance criteria of any welding code, including Aerospace. Couple this welding machine with the latest TIG welding gloves from Westchester and you are set for success!
The portable Fronius arc welder that worked on 115V power was able to burn a hot E6010 1/8” electrode better than most larger inverters George has welded with. Welding with E7018 1/8” electrode at 130 Amps was absolutely no problem and all the women welders restlessly welded non stop with this machine, never exceeding its duty cycle. It just kept going and going. If any of these welding machines were a car, they would be a Lamborghini that can be purchased for the price of a Camaro.
George highly recommends individual welders and shops to venture into a new world, the world of Fronius welding equipment.Their electronics are far superior than their counterparts.
The women who attended the workshop ranged in ages and experience in welding. They all were thrilled to partake in this learning experience and contribute to Women Who Weld’s efforts to bring in more women into welding. The afternoon started as a serious venture and by the end they were all laughing and having fun, turning it into a great social event as well.