SWWC CO-OP Spotlight: Welding & Liebherr Aerospace Saline Engineering

The South West Washtenaw Consortium (SWWC) provides many opportunities for students to participate in career and technical education outside of their standard high school schedule. One of the SWWC programs available is Welding. This program includes the SWWC Welding course as well as an introductory Metals class. Students participating in the SWWC Welding course learn the processes of MIG, TIG, STICK, and OXY-ACETYLENE welding, and fabrication processes including shearing, bending, burning, and plasma-arc cutting. In addition, students are taught basic power tool operation including drill press, grinding, and finishing along with some welding metallurgy and blueprint reading.

One goal of the SWWC is to place students, through a work-based learning experience, with an aligned business/industry. This serves as a capstone experience for students to practice learned academic, technical, work-habit, and social skills. There are several options to how a work-based learning opportunity can be implemented, such as a CO-OP experience, for the student and the employer.

One of the many featured SWWC CO-OP programs is the partnership between the SWWC Welding program and the Engineering Department of Liebherr Aerospace Saline, Inc. This CO-OP program offers an internship opportunity for proven welding students that have participated in the SWWC Welding program. I had the chance to speak with Jay Roberts, Welding Program Coordinator at Liebherr Aerospace in Saline. Mr. Roberts is a proud Saline graduate, a certified Welding SkillsUSA competition judge and an advisory board member. "Liebherr offers many opportunities within our internship program for students to get ahead of the competition," said Mr. Roberts "We offer a $4000 tuition reimbursement along with the opportunity for students to receive their AWS welding certification in on site evaluations." In addition to that, students receive job experience that will certainly prepare them for their future.

Jay Roberts and Caleb Rogers displaying a repaired heat exchanger.

Liebherr Aerospace Saline has had many students from the SWWC welding program participate in their internship. This year, the sole welding intern is Senior Caleb Rogers from Lincoln High School. Caleb participated in the SWWC welding program during his junior and senior years of high school. "We toured the Liebherr facility at the end of my junior year and that really peaked my interest in the internship program," Caleb said. "Having the opportunity to compete and ultimately win some of the state welding competitions, once the opportunity arose to participate in this program, I immediately began the process. Caleb also expressed his interest in working towards his aerospace welding certification and his college plans for the future. "I definitely want to start working towards that aerospace welding certification," Caleb said. "I am currently dual-enrolled at WCC getting my associate's in welding technology and after that, I might study mechanical engineering."

Caleb Rogers talking through the operation of a high tech welding station at Liebherr Aerospace Saline.

Liebherr Aerospace has offered another internship opportunity to some students participating in the SWWC Engineering/Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) program. It is certain that the opportunities provided by the company will provide SWWC students with invaluable job experience this year and for years to come.

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