USU Eastern Welding Team Four-Time Defending Champions at Utah Contest

On March 25, the USU Eastern Welding Fabrication team, consisting of welding students Lukas Worthington, Branson Gross, and Ty Anderson, placed first overall at the SkillsUSA Utah Skills and Leadership Contest (ULSC) in Salt Lake City. This marks USUE's fourth consecutive gold medal in the Utah contest.

The four-hour contest required each of the 18 competing teams to fabricate a folding A-frame for tool storage using mechanical prints provided by the contest committee. The project required the use of the Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) and Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) processes, as well as the Plasma Arc Cutting (PAC) process. The contest also included many “hold-points” where contest judges performed fabrication accuracy checks on the projects during construction before allowing the teams to continue work. The teams were required to design and submit a set of prints of their own to propose a project theme for the future.

The team will travel to Atlanta, Georgia in June to compete in the SkillsUSA National Skills and Leadership Contest. USUE is the three-time defending national champion in the contest, and the team has set a goal to win the competition for the fourth time in a row -- and 8th time total -- for Eastern.