By Getachew Mamo
The Ethiopian industry has a great potential to manufacture quality welded construction materials in accordance with international standards. The Ethiopian Technical University designed a training programme for wielders based on standards and guidelines by International Institute of Wielding (IIW). The training was attended by 37 trainees from Ethio Engineering Group Industries, of whom 13 were females and 24 males. The overall objective of the training was to enhance the basic welding knowledge, skill and attitude of the trainee’s based on IIW guidelines.
Based on the Ethiopian Qualifications Framework, the training course was designed to fill the trainer’s skill gap, knowledge and attitude by our qualified internationally certified welding engineer and welding instructor.
The training was conducted on three welding processes including Manual Metal Arc Welding (MMA), Metal Active Gas Welding (MAG) and Tungsten Inert Gas Welding (TIG). The training programme has a theoretical and practical phase. Theoretically it consists of introduction to welding process, health and safety and specific to each welding process MMA, MAG, TIG, and other welding processes, characteristics, working principles, equipment and accessories. Practically, the programme involves set up of welding machines, how to create arc, and how to join separate material, making continuous welding bead with different welding positions and joints. The training schedule is annexed with this report.
The Writer is a TVET Specialist at Ethiopian TVET University