Fresh off Sampson Community College’s groundbreaking for a new state-of-the-art welding facility, the college has already begun acquiring new tools that will fill the building once completed.

Instructors were busy setting up and practicing on the new welding simulator, which provides the user with virtual reality goggles which allow the user to see different settings that represent real-life welding scenarios.

“This machine allows students the opportunity to get an upper hand on those who don’t have this advantage,” says Dale Godbold, Lead Welding Instructor for the college. “This allows them to be competitive when going out to find a career path. This helps us train them on correct procedures and helps them learn the proper way to fine tune their welding skills.”

SCC welding instructor, Mark Brown “welds” spark-free as he sees a virtual reality version in his mask.

Once a student completes a virtual welding session, the program prints out a report on the student’s performance. Along with images of the student’s virtual weld, statistics on position, length, angle, and speed is also available. While a huge peripheral benefit to using these machines is saving materials, a top concern is always safety.

“There are no sparks, no electrodes, no burns or damaged clothing,” adds Kevin Shaffer of Lincoln Electric, which sells the machines. “Safety is always number one. It is a must. From speaking with Mr. Godbold, it most certainly is here. Once people look at how virtual reality works, they are drawn in and want to try it and that’s great.

For more information about the Welding Technology program at SCC, contact Godbold at dgodbold@sampsoncc.edu.