A few months ago, I wrote a blog about the College of Southern Nevada.  The site visit occured immediately after the HVAC Excellence conference.  You can read about it by clicking here.

Most memorable was the time invested in the welding department.  Dennie Soukup, the Department Chair, arranged a site tour which included the use of their welding simulator.  This involved wearing protective head gear and adhering to a few minutes of instruction.  The simulator tracks a students handling and pace and then displays a score.

Dennis looks on as I begin.

Using the simulator.

A student’s score display.

As the site tour continued, Dennis explained a SKILLS USA fabrication competition involving students from community colleges and high schools in Nevada.  Working in teams of 3 and 4, students worked together to build a barbecue grill.

That piqued my interest.  “Barbecue grills,” I thought.  Now that sounds like fun.

Walking into the student competition room, Dennis showed me works in progress.  There were 18″ long pipe pieces being welded into a handy barbecue grill.  Smaller pipe served as the chimney. Grill handles and other accessories were also welded together.

Barbecue grills, I thought.   Now that sounds like fun.

“Where did you get the pipe,” I asked.  “The 12″ pipe is used for water,” he said.  “In a typical Las Vegas application they’re used for the chilled water supply and return lines from the central plant operations to Hotel towers – so there are plenty of small cuts available for donation.”

Re-purposing the unused pipe for a student competition is good efficiency and a mutual win/win.  Innovative idea.

Dennis explained further that the competition was a rigorous event and not every team was successful. However the judges were able to select gold, silver and bronze medal winners.

As the site tour continued, I kept thinking about those barbecue grills.

Fast forward to July 4th weekend.  My wife (Ronnie) and I enjoyed a backyard treat thanks to the College of Southern Nevada’s capable students.

4th of July Weekend. In our backyard.

Students can learn through simulation and real-world application.  And a little competition doesn’t hurt to drive students to excel and achieve outcomes that transcend their potential.

…the competition was a rigorous event and not every team was successful.   However the judges were able to select gold, silver and bronze medal winners.

Innovative college instructors enable students to achieve improved welding and workmanship through competition and a willingness to win.

Thanks to the hard-working and dedicated instructors who seek creative learning methods.