Florence-Darlington Technical College in Florence, SC,  held its first ever "Welding Rodeo" on April  30 and May 1 at the college’s Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing and  Technology, with a little help and support from ESAB.

Five teams of professional welders  and five teams of amateur welding students competed to create welded sculptures  that fit the theme of "Motion." The 10 teams had just eight hours to create a  piece of art using only a pile of scrap material. At the end of the  competition, the sculptures were judged by an independent panel of local  sculptors, and prizes were awarded to the top teams. The completed sculptures  were auctioned off at the end of the competition with proceeds going to support  FDTC’s Welding Technology Student Scholarship Fund.

Planning for the event began  more than one year ago when FDTC’s Educational Foundation met with leaders from  ESAB Welding and Cutting Products of Florence to put together a  first-of-its-kind East Coast event. A similar event is held annually at Bellingham Technical College  in Washington.

Jill Heiden, executive  director of the FDTC Foundation, said, "ESAB took the challenge head on by  designing the logos, brochures, and website graphics for the event and  assisting with the electrical output needed for welders and other vendors. ESAB  also provided prizes and contracted displays from Big Foot and Trick My Truck  and arranged for the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) to donate "The Balloon Lady" display. This was  a true partnership between the College and ESAB." In addition to providing  $25,000 worth of services to the event, ESAB also entered a team in the  professional division.

Ross Gandy, director of  FDTC’s Advanced Welding and Cutting   Center, headed up all  compliance issues and oversaw the building and equipping of the welding  competition area. "Ross Gandy worked his magic with all the school participants  as well as our own FDTC and ESAB team," Heiden said.

Nucor Steel of Darlington County won the professional division and  a $1600 grand prize with their sculpture of a moving dolphin. Honda of  South Carolina in Timmonsville took second place and $1200 with a curvy,  free-form sculpture mounted on a giant "H." 

Welding students from Central Carolina Technical   College in Sumter, South    Carolina, won the amateur division and an $800 grand  prize for their portrayal of an eagle catching a fish.  ESAB donated  $10,000 worth of welding equipment to the winning amateur team and gave welding  helmets and gloves to each of the participants. Florence Career   Center students finished  second with their sculpture called "The Vortex," and the team from Florence-Darlington Technical College’s  Advanced Welding and Cutting   Center took home the  Honorable Mention prize for their interpretation of a motorcycle.

"Our company was very pleased  with what we saw happening here," said Lynn  Stock of Nucor Steel. "Nucor approached this as a neat opportunity to get the  community involved and show what the college has to offer to the community and  to industry. SIMT is a world-class facility, and the community doesn’t have  much chance to see all that they have to offer. SIMT can provide the talent  that Nucor will hire in the future."

Mike Crosby, advisor for the Florence Career Center  team, was also very impressed with the event. "I thought it was a great  opportunity for the students to ‘stretch their legs’ and also to spend time  around other welders. They don’t have a lot of opportunities to ‘play,’ to have  fun and work hard."

Axil Reis, advisor for the Central Carolina Technical   College team, says the  event gave his students the opportunity to experience what it is like to work  as a team. "They really enjoyed it but they also realized that it was a lot of  work," he says. "Most of them had never experienced a full day of work as a  welder." He also noted that this competition showed both the students and the  community the broad spectrum of work as a welder. "You can be an artistic  welder like this, or you can work in the structural or fabrication fields.  There are many possibilities. No one really knows what welding is capable of  doing. This was a great thing to show the community. It was an excellent  experience and the college did an excellent job of putting it together." Both  teams said they were eager to participate again next year. After the winners were  announced, the sculptures were auctioned off to the highest bidder. Nucor  Steel Vice President Mike Gurley made the winning bid of $2000 for the Nucor  team’s dolphin. Hoyt Wood of Lake    City, South Carolina,  bought Central Carolina’s creation for  $800. ESAB purchased its team’s entry of bull riders in a rodeo ring and  will put it on permanent display at the Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing  and Technology on the FDTC campus.  The  auction raised just over $10,000 for the FDTC scholarship program.

Plans are already underway to  make next year’s competition even bigger and better with room for more teams to  compete and with the possible addition of a car show in conjunction with the  rodeo. "We wanted to create something that Florence will really enjoy," Heiden says, as  well as promoting welding as a career choice. ESAB and FDTC are very happy with  the results of their first rodeo, Heiden notes, adding, "the unbelievable  creativity of the sculptures was way beyond what we expected."

For more information on FDTC  or the Welding Rodeo, contact Jill Heiden at 843-661-8003 or visit the  college’s website at www.fdtc.edu. For more  information on ESAB Welding & Cutting Products, visit www.esabna.com or call  1-800-ESAB-123.

See all the pictures from the event on our Facebook Page!