Welding Technology - Cherokee County Career and Technology Center

Derek Kuykendall, Instructor

Mr. Kuykendall is an AWS Certified Welder and has more than 20 years' experience with the Boilermakers.

Industrial welder using a torch on metal in a manufacturing facility

LEARN MORE

Aerospace welding in Alabama has become one of the most concentrated, highest-skill corridors in the country, built around a run of federal and private employers packed into roughly 60 miles between Huntsville and Decatur. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the Redstone Arsenal anchor the region, with Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Dynetics in Huntsville, and United Launch Alliance manufacturing rocket cores in Decatur.

Together, they have turned the corridor into a market where aerospace welding jobs in Alabama are consistent, well-paid, and short on credentialed welders and inspectors who can fill them.

SKILLSUSA CAREER TECH STUDENT ORGANIZATION (CTSO)

Alabama SkillsUSA provides students with job skills training & 21st Century employability skills. Students can grow their technical and leadership skills through:

competitions, hands-on activities, and leadership development.

SKILLSUSA CAREER TECH STUDENT ORGANIZATION (CTSO)

male-teacher-master-class-welding-and-work-student-of-technical-school-industrial-education-concept

Competitors receive contest drawings and a set of welding procedure specifications. All drawings, welding symbols, and welding terms conform to the latest edition of the American Welding Society standards.

SKILLSUSA CAREER TECH STUDENT ORGANIZATION (CTSO)

student demonstrating skills at SkillsUSA competition

Through a series of work stations, contestants are tested on various aspects of welding including: measuring weld replicas, using weld measuring gauges, laying out a plate, and

using oxy-acetylene equipment.

SKILLSUSA CAREER TECH STUDENT ORGANIZATION (CTSO)

student demonstrating welding skills at SkillsUSA competition

Competitors complete the steel project and weld an aluminum project in various positions using a variety of filler metals.

Industry Recognized Credentials

An Industry Recognized Credential is the culminating evidence of a learner's proficiency in competencies that equip them for a productive career in a specific industry.

The Welding Technology program utilizes NCCER’s four-level curriculum covers topics such as: oxyfuel cutting, welding symbols, and stainless-steel groove welds.

Alabama Simulated Workplace

Alabama Simulated Workplace shifts classrooms into a company setting that introduces students to business processes using distinct workplace components including: time clock,

safety training, company procedures and more.