In March, Jordan Packer, a Utah State University Eastern student, won second place in the American Welding Society Weld Trials after placing 11th in the SkillsUSA National Welding Competition.
Packer was selected as USU Eastern’s contestant for the 2021 Utah SkillsUSA welding competition.
For the first module, Packer used the shielded metal arc welding, gas tungsten arc welding, and flux-cored arc welding processes, making it so a contestant has to be prepared to weld any of the five tests with all four processes at any given time.
Module 2 consisted of welding a steel pressure vessel that consisted of a variety of welding positions and all four welding processes, which was then hydrostatically tested. To achieve full points, no leaks can be observed when the vessel is filled with water and 1,000 PSI of pressure is applied for one minute. Packer’s vessel passed with flying colors.
Finally, Module 3 was an aluminum project welded exclusively with gas tungsten arc welding, and Module 4 was a stainless-steel project welded with the same process.
