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Welding

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Course Code:

8672/8673

Course Description: This two-year program introduces students to a wide variety of industries where fusible materials and high heat are needed to manufacture, repair, or alter tools and products.  Students will learn to use manual welding, cutting, and electrical arc welding processes to fabricate and join metal parts according to diagrams, blueprints, and specifications.  Students will fine tune their craft and perform welds in various positions, using multiple welding processes.

Topics of Study:

  • Safety
  • Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW)
  • Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)
  • Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW)
  • Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG)
  • Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW)
  • Welding w/ different materials
  • Oxy Acetylene Burning
  • Air Carbon Arc Cutting (A-CAC)
  • Plasma Arc Cutting (PAC)
  • Butler Farm, Hampton
  • Woodside Lane, Newport News
  • AM and PM
  • 20 students
  • American Welding Society Certification
  • Welding NOCTI Certification
  • OSHA 10 Certification
  • SkillsUSA
  • Completed 10th grade English with a grade of “C” or better
  • TBA
  • A person wearing a welding mask works on metal in a workshop.
  • A person's wrist is adorned with a handmade floral bracelet.
  • A person wearing a welding helmet works on metal in a workshop.

Instructor Bio

ed.dupree@nhrec.org
757-766-1100 ext. 3344

21+ years of educational experience at New Horizons
18 years industry experience at Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS)
Earned 35 different welding certifications while working at NNS
Core Curricula Instructor for National Center for Construction Education & Research (NCCER)
Attended American Welding Society (AWS) Instructors Institute
Obtained a welding certification from the National Center for Construction and Education

pierrette.swan@nhrec.org
757-874-4444 ext 5584

Been Welding since 2011 and began Teaching at NHREC in 2021.
Graduated from The Newport News Shipbuilding Apprentice School.
Spent 10 years at Newport News Shipbuilding with experience in x-ray pipe welding, welder training, manning, recruiting, and welding supervision.
Worked at Colonna’s Shipyard/Weld America as a Manager of Welding Services.
Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art from Virginia Wesleyan College
Associate’s Degree in Business Administration from Thomas Nelson Community College Systems Engineering Certificate from Reed Integration, Inc.
Honored by the Manufacturing Institute as an Emerging Leader for her accomplishments in welding in 2017.
Honored by the Association for Manufacturing Excellence in 2016 and 2021 as an “AME Emerging Leader” in Manufacturing.
Ambassador for the WHRO Work Like a Girl-America Graduate campaign, which won first place at the 53rd Public Media Awards in 2022.
Featured in the American Welding Society Magazine January 2022 issue
Certified Welding Educator credential from the American Welding Society in 2024
Won the AWS/WEMCO Excellence in Welding Award for Educator in 2024
Won Teacher of the Year for the NHREC Woodside Lane Campus in 2025

  • About 42,600 openings for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers are projected each year, on average, over the decade.  “Welders” Occupational Outlook Handbook, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 11 October, 2023. See the Occupational Outlook Handbook here.

    • Welder (Aluminum, Fabrication, MIG, etc.) 
    • Pipefitter 
    • Machinist