MAKE YOUR MARK™ SERIES

Instructor, Welder, Shipfitter

“I’m confident I can use the knowledge I learned this week

on Monday when I return.”

MEET TOM SPADONI

MC18-16 02/18 © Lincoln Global, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

CHARIHOtech

Tom is a welding and shipfitting instructor for the Chariho

Career and Technical Center (CHARIHOtech) in Wood River

Junction, Rhode Island, a certified Career and Technical

Education (CTE) institution. When deciding where to go for

educator professional development, Tom says there was one

choice: the Lincoln Electric Welding Technology and Training

Center (WTTC) in Cleveland, Ohio. “What better place than

the source to be taught the proper way,” he insists.

CHARIHOtech offers a four-year program that provides students

with a working knowledge of welding; skills and theory in

the characteristics of metals, along with their structure and

properties; welding metallurgy; electric theory; and welding

technologies. Students learn how to layout, fabricate, assemble

and install various structures, frames, and components in the

maritime industry.

Shipfitting is an essential part of the CHARIHOtech program.

The maritime industry is a major employer and engine of

economic activity in Rhode Island, and companies are looking

for skilled welders. But education at CHARIHOtech is not limited

to shipfitting. It covers shielded metal arc welding (SMAW);

gas metal arc welding (GMAW), or MIG; flux-cored arc welding

(FCAW); and gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), or TIG.

The breadth of topics prompted Tom to expand his

understanding of welding processes. At the WTTC, his first

course was the one-week Motorsports Basic Materials Program.

He learned TIG and MIG welding basics on alloys like aluminum

and stainless steel. The class included discussions regarding

metallurgy, chemistry and other sciences; when it’s appropriate

to pre- or post-heat the base metal; and additional factors that

help produce quality welds. Tom also added to his existing

understanding of filler metal selection for different applications.

“I’m confident I can use the knowledge I learned this week on

Monday when I return,” he maintains.

Even more valuable, perhaps, are the relationships Tom

established with his Lincoln Electric instructors. “I know I can

email questions and get sound answers that will help in my own

instruction,” he says. “I have a set of experts to lean on.”

Since many CHARIHOtech students grew up on farms and want

to learn how to repair tools and equipment, Tom plans to return

to the WTTC for additional professional development to gain

expertise on alloys and hardfacing issues.

“I came to acquire knowledge I could use, and the information

I learned at the Lincoln Electric immediately affects my

students,” he says. “I look forward to coming back.”

THE LINCOLN ELECTRIC COMPANY 22801 Saint Clair Avenue • Cleveland, OH • 44117 • U.S.A.

Phone: +1 216.481.8100 • www.lincolnelectric.com