Mr. George Bumilla, a pipe welder from Tauton, Massachusetts and a member of local 798 pipe liners union visited Assabet Valley Vocational High School in Marlbrough Massachusetts this week to demonstration to our junior metal fabrication class down hill pipe welding.

Assabet students got an opportunity to watch and participate with Mr. Bumilla in how to prepare, fit up, and welding 12 inch schd. 80 heavy wall pipe. Mr. Bumilla arrived at our school with his pipe welding rig.truck to let our students see what a mobile welding truck welding business looks like and how to operate a small business as a welding contractor.

Mr. Bumilla has been to our school three times with in past two weeks to present career opportunities, demonstrate pipe line welding and prepare our student for a annual pipe welding competition that they will participate in on May 2007 at " Notch Mechanical Piping Systems Co. " in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Each year, Notch Mechanical, host a state wide pipe welding challenge competition for welding students to go head to head with other vocational welding students to test their welding skills in a 1-G open root pipe welding position test.

Students get time to prepare, tack, and feather their tack welds before the actual timed pipe welding competition starts. The first student to weld their root pass, fill pass and over pass raises their hand and stops welding.

A cash prize of $ 500.00 to the student and cash prize of $ 500.00 to the students school's welding program for hand tools and related welding equipment is awarded to the winner. Each student that participates in the competition get a full package of leather welding jacket, welding helmet, gloves, safety glasses, chipping hammer and wire brush.

This is an excellent approach to develop young vocational metal fabrication / welding students in becoming skilled pipe welders in the state of Massachusetts. Several winners of this competition have gone on to graduate from their welding programs and have been employed at Notch Mechanical as pipe welders.

The state of Massachusetts is currently in severe shortage of skilled and licensed pipe welders. We are grateful to have such a program offered to our welding students in the North East.