A freshman of INRTU, became the best electric welder at the professional skills contest

The professional contest "Best Electric Welder" was held at INRTU on May 11. The participants of the tournament were 16 INRTU students of "Equipment and Technology of Welding Production" program. The organizers of the project are Andrei Balanovskii, head of the Department of Materials Science, Welding and Additive Technology, and Mariia Grechneva, associate professor.

Students competed in theoretical knowledge as well as performed the practical part of making a weld. The works of the participants were evaluated by the competition committee, including Sergey Hayashi, director of Welding Technics LLC, head of the metal control laboratory of KUITS EuroSibEnergo-IRNITU. The jury consisted of Viktor Ustyugov, chief engineer of METALLOMEST Ltd. and Mariia Grechneva, associate professor of Department of Materials Science, Welding and Additive Technology.

According to Mariia Grechneva, the "Best Electric Welder" project is a traditional event: 

"We have been organizing this competition for decades. In September, first-year students begin studying the discipline "Introduction to Specialty," and at the end of the month we let them work on modern equipment.

The judges of the competition are potential employers, so INRTU students try to demonstrate excellent results. A significant contribution to the training of students is made by Andrei Balanovskii, who knows how to interest students and has excellent organizational skills".

The training master of the department, Sergey Aganaev, said that during the classes students learned how to ignite the arc, lead the bead and maintain the correct width of the weld.

According to the results of the competition, Andrei Krivogornitsyn became the best electric welder among the first-year students of INRTU: 

"I am happy that I have won the competition. I managed to make a quality weld in the bottom position and successfully answered the theoretical questions.

There was a competitive spirit at the tournament - we all wanted to present a decent level of welding skills to the experts".

The jury recognized Danil Dzhuruk as the silver medalist. He said that he easily overcame the practical task: 

"To weld two plates, you must adjust the current, set the gap between the plates no larger than the diameter of the electrode. Then you should lead the arc and carefully observe the formation of the weld.

My grandfather worked as a welder in my small motherland in the village of Karymskoe (Trans-Baikal Territory). I watched with interest the process of his work, I liked the smell of the electrode and molten metal.

The final leaders were Denis Nikolayenko and Anton Ryzhenkov, who graduated from Usolsk Industrial College, specialty "Welder manual and mechanized welding method of surfacing.

"I decided to enroll to INRTU in order to improve my qualification in this interesting profession. Good basic knowledge and skills in welding helped me to successfully cope with the difficult stages of the competition," commented Anton.

According to Andrei Balanovskii, at present the areas related to welding production are promising and in demand in the labor market: 

"Welders work with metal structures of different levels of complexity, as well as welding parts, pipelines and other products.

In my opinion, a welder is as creative a profession as an artist. Only instead of a brush, specialists use an electrode.