APRIL 201348

This personal opinion paper dealswith some perceived, as well asreal, contradictions between edu-

cation vs. training in teaching, accredita-tion vs. certification, engineering vs. en-gineering technology, and teaching vs.research. These thoughts come from 17years of experience as the Welding/Ma-terials Joining program coordinator atthe School of Engineering, LeTourneauUniversity, and are intended for weldingeducators, instructors, and the public.

IntroductionAs more manufacturing jobs return to

the United States and the AmericanWelding Society tries to address thewelder shortage by improving the imageof welding, it appears that there is a needto change the essence of welding first.This can mostly be done by better teach-ing at every training and educationallevel and creating scientific break-throughs by well-taught and educated en-gineers and scientists.

However, because teaching (instruc-tion) often involves vocational training,

education is sometimes confused withtraining. Similar misunderstandings per-sist in the welding community betweenaccreditation and certification, practicaltraining vs. theoretical teaching, and soforth. This paper attempts to clarify someof these contradictions and propose aharmonious approach to improving thequality and essence of welding, not onlyits image.

This is a very personal perspective onthe topics discussed, and the hope is thatthese thoughts will not hurt anybody’sego, but instead will spark a healthy de-bate in the welding engineering commu-nity, and new solutions will be found tothese long-lasting contradictions.

Education vs. TrainingIn teaching and improving profes-

sional competence, I believe that educa-tion should not be confused with train-ing, as they address different aspects indeveloping the welding professionals ourcountry needs. The etymology of theword “education” clarifies the difference.According to Webster’s Dictionary (Ref.

1), the word comes to us from the Latin“educare,” meaning “to rear, to leadforth, to draw out something of potentialor latent talent.” It can also mean “to per-suade or condition to feel, believe or actin a desired way.” The implication is thateducation can be practiced at home, andin primary, secondary, and postsecondaryschools. Education shapes the mind andcharacter of students and might also in-volve training.

On the other hand, the etymology of“training” is rooted in the vulgar Latinword “traginare” (Ref. 1) and means “toundergo instruction, discipline or drill.”Webster’s also defines training as “theact, process or method to impart knowl-edge or experience to acquire or to teachas to make fit, qualified, or proficient.”This teaching type refers to a particularset of skills.

All this does not mean that one is bet-ter than the other, it just means that ed-ucation is more comprehensive thantraining in teaching a subject. For exam-ple, if applied to the culinary arts, train-ing means to teach someone to cook byfollowing recipes, while education is

A Perspective on Welding EngineeringEducation—Confessions of a PhD

Who Can Actually Weld

YONI ADONYI, PhD, P. E., Prof., Omer Blodgett Chair of Welding and MaterialsJoining Engineering, LeTourneau University, Longview, Tex.

Based on the Plummer Lecture, delivered Nov. 13, 2012, Las Vegas, Nev.

The Plummer Lecture was dedicated to the memory of my wife and bestfriend for 41 years, Anne MarieAdonyi, who was an accomplishedartist. Several of her sketches and paintings inspired by weldmicrostructures illustrate the text.

A researcher and educator offershis opinions on the challenges ofwelding education today

BY YONI ADONYI

Prof. Adonyi started as a welder in Roma-nia where he earned his BS in Welding En-gineering at the Timioara Polytechnic Uni-versity. He emmigrated to Israel andrestarted his career as a welder. He studiedfor his MS in Material Science at the Tech-nion in Haifa. After moving to the UnitedStates, he received his doctorate from TheOhio State University.

49WELDING JOURNAL

equivalent to cultivating in someone thetalent to create new recipes and writecookbooks, even when not all ingredientsare available. It is clear that the cookingindustry could not work without goodchefs and line-cooks working well together.

Applied to the welding industry, thisdifferentiation shows that well-educatedwelding engineers and scientists needwell-trained technicians and operators todo their jobs. On the other hand, confus-ing the roles can potentially cause seri-ous problems in our industry. Imagine aworld where welders are trying to designnew products without knowing calculusand differential equations, and weldingengineers trying to make good welds onproduction lines after having only welded30–40 hours in their entire lives. In real-ity, we need each other, but will have tobetter understand our roles. As someonewho has experienced both training andeducation, I will continue to be part ofthe solution and bring harmony betweenthe educated and the trained.

Accreditation vs. CertificationIn the same way education differs

from training, accreditation is differentfrom certification, yet the two terms areoften used in the wrong context.

The word accreditation comes fromthe Latin word for “Accredere,” mean-ing ‘to give credence to (to believe, a setof fundamental beliefs), or to give offi-cial authorization, to provide with cre-dentials’ (Ref. 1). This process is appliedto educational institutions in order torecognize maintaining standards thatqualify graduates for admission to higherinstitutions of professional practice. Inthe United States, the AccreditationBoard of Engineering and Technology(ABET) is the recognized body that pe-

riodically reviews compliance at univer-sities. The maximum length of ABET ac-creditation is six years to ensure that theprograms maintain high quality educa-tional standards.

The word certification comes from theLatin word “Certus,” or certain andmeans “to attest authoritatively as, to at-test as being true or as meeting a stan-dard.” Webster’s also adds the meaning“to testify to the truth or genuineness ofsomething — applies to a written state-ment, carrying signature and seal.” In ourfield, the Certified Welding Inspector(CWI) program comes to mind, as certi-fied by a professional organization, the AWS.

As an example, LeTourneau Univer-sity is accredited by SACS (Southern As-sociation of Colleges and Schools) andthe engineering program is accredited byABET, hence we do not issue certificates,but diplomas. On the other hand, theAWS, Sysco, Linux, etc., issue certifi-cates, but not diplomas. It should be ob-vious that university programs cannot becertified and training programs cannotbe accredited. Yet, terms such as “Cater-pillar University” or “ESAB University”are being used, making the above distinc-tion difficult to the public. At the sametime, terms such as Certified Welding En-gineers become questionable, as theyimply a mix between education and train-ing at the national level.

Currently, the only legal way an edu-cated engineer can become certified ona state-by-state basis is the ProfessionalEngineer (PE) registration. This requirespassing the Fundamentals of Engineer-ing comprehensive exam and completionof five years minimum work experienceas an Engineer in Training under the su-pervision of an experienced PE.

Engineering vs. EngineeringTechnology

Another concept that needs explana-tion is the four-year Engineering Tech-nology Bachelor of Science degree, whichis often misunderstood, and its graduatesconsidered technicians by some employ-ers. Note that this degree can also be ac-credited by the Engineering TechnologyAccreditation Committee (ETAC), ad-ministered by ABET.

An excellent review paper on the sub-ject (Ref. 2) showed that more than 75%of engineering technologists perform en-gineering job functions. Nevertheless,some companies have a ban on hiring en-gineering technologists because they con-sider engineering technologists “glori-

fied” technicians, a fact that cannot befurther from the truth. In the case of Le-Tourneau University, the EngineeringTechnology program had been an excel-lent safety net for those engineering stu-dents who could not master advancedmath and science classes, but learn wellby application of scientific principles.

A special recognition note is neededhere on the recently ABET/TAC accred-ited Engineering Technology program atFerris State University. Although thisprogram is mostly focused on the auto-motive industry needs, its growth and de-livery of high-quality education duringthe past decade has been spectacular.

Theory vs. Practice inEducation and Training

The above description of EngineeringTechnology (learn by doing teaching par-adigm) and Engineering (learn by apply-ing fundamental scientific principles par-adigm) brings up a basic question: howimportant is it to have practical knowl-edge (training) in order to practice engi-neering (education)?

The obvious answer is — very muchso. Being comfortable with using dangerous and difficult manufacturingprocesses such as thermal cutting, braz-ing, and welding is very important for en-gineers to understand process capabili-ties and limitations. Moreover, they be-come appreciative of the skilled welders’performance, and attempt to make theirwork safer and easier by introducing au-tomation and robotics, as well as by de-signing for easier use of the equipment.

However, overemphasizing the role ofpractical experience can be detrimentalto the career of a welding engineer. Re-peating the same welding exercise manytimes may improve skill, but will not fur-ther scientific knowledge.

Accordingly, only two of those whowent through ten-plus years of weldingpractice were able to graduate from Le-

Anne Marie Adonyi, Chatting Women,copyright BeauxArtsbyAni@. This is howa heat-affected zone seen in an orienta-tion imaging microscope became a workof art.

Anne Marie Adonyi, Volcano. Inspired byepitaxial growth macro in a titaniumbead-on-plate weld.

APRIL 201350

Tourneau’s Engineering Technology pro-gram in the past 17 years. In my experi-ence, those who dropped out after one se-mester or two were put off by the diffi-culty of science and math classes, and bynot seeing the relevance in their under-standing basic principles of welding(which they mistakenly thought they al-ready understood at a phenomenologicallevel).

Therefore, I believe that the level ofacademic rigor should be strengthenedat the two-year community college level,mostly by sending instructors back toschool or by providing them with high-quality training material, instead of com-mercial propaganda received from theirdonors. One such nationally acceptedprogram exists already, the National Ex-cellence in Materials Joining Engineer-ing and Technology (NEMJET) programdeveloped in the late 1990s under an NSFgrant by Ohio State, Edison Welding In-stitute, and AWS.

Teaching vs. ResearchA different, but difficult contradiction

faced by academics and practicing engi-neers alike is how to handle teaching andresearch at the same time. These activi-ties require a different set of talents andhave different customers. Yet, I believe

the two activities are complementary, andan effort should be made by each individ-ual to balance them in their lives.

The reality of academic life in searchof tenure is that raising external fundingand publishing peer-reviewed papers re-main the basic criteria for evaluating fac-ulty in tenure reviews. The so-called “pub-lish-or-perish” expression reflects this re-ality, when teaching is often neglected byyoung faculty in order to remain employedand receive tenure, whereby consequentlymore and more, sometimes repetitive andirrelevant papers are published.

On the other hand, welding practi-tioners do not typically understand thisreality academics face and treat papersfrom the “Research Supplement” of theWelding Journal with mild disgust. Ac-cordingly, the chasm between the scien-tific elite in our industry and the major-ity of welding professionals tends todeepen, with many practitioners beingeven unaware of the existence of Techni-cal Paper Sessions during the annualwelding exhibition at FABTECH.

With so many contradictions and mis-understandings facing welding engineer-ing education and training, a few sug-gested solutions to these problems follow.

Proposed SolutionsWith less than 30% of welding engi-

neers being graduates of specialized pro-grams at four universities as of 2012 (TheOhio State University, LeTourneau Uni-versity, Ferris State University, andWeber State University) (Ref. 3), thereis a need for training engineers going intowelding from different areas such as me-chanical, electrical, materials, and indus-trial engineering. This training is alreadybeing successfully performed at EWI, atAWS conferences, etc., but is fragmentedby different industry groups such as nu-clear, shipbuilding, etc.

It seems that a more standardizedtraining should be made available for en-gineers through the AWS using distancelearning. Free copies of the NEMJETteaching modules developed in the 1990sby AWS/EWI/OSU should be madeavailable to qualified instructors. How-ever, The Ohio State University stillholds the copyright on these NEMJETmodules and a purchasing license iscostly. Therefore, very few people usethese excellent teaching materials. Ifthese modules would be made availablefor free, they could greatly aid in teach-ing correct concepts. Waiving licensingfees on these modules for community col-lege instructors would improve their re-

sources and reduce the knowledge gapbetween two- and four-year programs.

Finally, more face-to-face exchangesbetween the above communities are en-couraged during the welding exhibitionat FABTECH. Perhaps the AWS Foun-dation would sponsor a formal dinner onSunday or Monday night of the show,with a well thought out program thatwould initiate collegial conversations be-tween instructors of all levels of educa-tion and training.

ConclusionsThis paper attempts to clarify terms

and apparent contradictions relevant towelding engineering from a national aswell as an international perspective and35 years of professional experience in thefield. These clarifications are intendedto harmonize different groups involvedin teaching welding and open a candidconversation about future cooperation.As long as instructors do training andleave education to professors, there willbe less misrepresentations detrimentalto the welding industry overall. It wouldalso be beneficial to have training semi-nars for educators to help improve thierself-confidence when facing practicalproblems.

At the same time, the current chasmbetween welding practitioners and scien-tists should be bridged through inten-tional efforts such as seminars, meetings,visits, tours, etc., perhaps under the spon-sorship of the AWS Foundation. Finally,free use of the NEMJET modules by alllevels of college and universities wouldgreatly improve teaching at two- andfour-year colleges.◆

Acknowledgments

There are too many mentors and in-spiring professionals whom I would liketo thank here. However, one stands outas a pillar of intellect, mental strength,and encouragement for me, Dr. W. A.(Bud) Baeslack III, my PhD advisor atThe Ohio State University, now Provostat Case Western Reserve University.

References

1. www.merriam-webster.com2. Land, Ronald. 2012. Engineering

technologists are engineers. Journal ofEngineering Technology, pp. 32–39.

3. AWS Internal Survey, 2003.4. www.annemarieadonyi.com

Anne Marie Adonyi, Angel Coming, copy-right BeauxArtsbyAni@. Inspiration pro-vided by a two-sided, partially penetratedbutt joint weld macrostructure.