The American Welding Society (AWS) was founded in 1919
as a multifaceted, nonprofit organiza-tion with a goal to advance the science,
technology and application of welding and related joining disciplines. From
factory floor to high-rise construction, from military weaponry to home products,
AWS continues to lead the way in supporting welding education and technology development
to ensure a strong, competitive and exciting way of life for all Americans.
The Engineering Societies Building (left) in
New York City was the home of AWS until 1961 when the Society moved to the United
Engineering Center, also in New York City. The Society moved its headquarters to
Miami in 1971 (right).
AWS
Mission Statement
The mission of the American
Welding Society is to advance the science, technology and application
of welding and allied joining and cutting processes, including brazing,
soldering and thermal spraying.
As
Time Goes By
... A pictorial history of
welding
as seen through the pages of the Welding Journal
Welding and the Society
... A nostalgic look at the AWS
and events in the history of welding.
AWS At-A-Glance
... Membership to
Publications.
Expositions to Scholarships. Find out more about the American Welding
Society and how it works.
Blockbuster
Events in Welding's Long History
...Welding was a vital part of
many
major events in American history. Read more.
Welding History.org...
A unique site offering the
history
of thermal joining from ancient times to today. Also Brazing from 6000
B.C.E. to modern times, brazing is the most ancient form of metal
joining. A "must see site" for the welding enthusiast. Includes movies,
photos, timelines and more.
Photo
display: First
Conventional Plasma ARC Torch
Patented by Robert
MacCornack Gage
in 1953, developed at Linde Laboratories, Buffalo, NY.
Past Presidents of
AWS.
Discover which president ...
...Became a professional baseball player before returning to
engineering;
...Created the Navy's first metallurgy lab;
...Was decorated with the French Legion of Honor;
...Was "inspired" by the Titanic disaster to write "Observation on
Ocean Temperatures in the Vicinity of Icebergs";
...Was honored along with Herbert Hoover and Thomas Edison by the
National Academy of Sciences.
Welding
Forges into
the Future
... Answers from a survey of
industry leaders give valuable feedback on the state of welding for the
year 2000 and beyond.
The Job Outlook for
Welders...
Reprinted from the Welding
Journal, June 1999.
Welding-Related
Expenditures, Investments,
and Productivity Measurement in U.S. Manufacturing, Construction, and
Mining Industries
"This report summarizes
findings
of the initial wave of research conducted for the Economic Impact and
Productivity of Welding study commissioned by the American Welding
Society and Edison Welding Institute.
The overall objectives of this research were to determine the economic
contribution and productivity of welding in specific U.S. industries
where welding is a primary enabling technology and identify where the
greatest opportunities exist to further improve welding productivity."
Download
Economic Impact and Productivity of Welding in .pdf format.
Vision for
Welding Industry
The American Welding
Society, in
conjunction with the Department of Energy, has put together a vision
that will carry the welding industry through 2020. As part of obtaining
global consensus on the Vision for Welding Industry document,
industry was encouraged to download the document, read it and return
comments, suggestions or corrections. We will be reviewing all
responses carefully. Thank you for supporting this most important
endeavor.
Download
Vision Document in .pdf format.
Culmination
of Vision for Welding Industry
The recently published
Welding
Industry Vision Workshop Results describes the issues and opportunities
facing the U.S. welding industry (users as well as suppliers of welding
equipment, materials, processes, and support services) through the next
twenty years. The strategic goals outlined in the Vision are ambitious
and will require hard work and commitment by the industry, but
expectations are high for maintaining a competitive worldwide position
for welding well into the new century.
The roadmap is
based on input provided by
representatives from the industry segments at workshops held in Chicago
in October 1999 and Houston in March 2000. Input for the automotive
section was extracted from previously developed roadmaps prepared in
collaboration with the Edison Welding
Institute.
Download
Vision Workshop Results in .pdf format.
About Our Membership
AWS serves more than 66,000
members
worldwide. Membership consists of engineers, scientists, educators,
researchers, welders, inspectors, welding foremen, company executives
and officers, and corporate members including welding manufactures, independent welding shops, distributorship, end-users, educational institutions and more. Member interests include automatic,
semi-automatic and manual welding, as well as brazing, soldering,
ceramics, lamination, robotics, and welding safety and health.
To request
membership information, please
visit our Membership
Pages
AWS
Magazines
The Welding Journal, a major
monthly magazine
specifically serving the welding and manufacturing industries is mailed
to all AWS Members. The publication includes authoritative articles
that can help your business and professional development, as well as
news, "how-to" stories, welding research, advertisements, and much
more. Winner of more than 60 editorial and design awards, including the
1999 Florida Magazine Association award for "Best In-Depth Reporting".
In addition, Inspection
Trends the magazine for materials inspection and testing personnel,
is mailed to individuals and facilities certified by AWS, including all
Certified Welding Inspectors.
Technical
Publications
AWS offers over 300 books,
charts,
videos, replicas, proceedings, and software. 160 AWS-developed codes,
recommended practices, and guides are produced under strict American
National Standards Institute (ANSI) procedures, including one of the
most consulted codes in the world, D1.1 Structural Welding Code -
Steel. Download
our annual Catalog, full
color catalog free or visit the AWS On-Line Catalog and
Bookstore.
Educational Programs
Include international,
national
and local conferences, seminars, individual corporate programs, and
home study courses. Subjects range from the basics to the leading edge
of technology. AWS offers the award-winning program SENSE
(Schools Excelling through National Skills Education) to all qualified
U.S. welding programs.
AWS Foundation
Founded in 1989, to support research and education in welding and related technologies. It is committed to annually awarding fellowships to deserving graduate students for important research in areas important to the requirements of industry. Accordingly, each year the AWS Foundation administers two $25,000 grants - matched in kind by the participating universities. The award of scholarships to vocational and undergraduate college students is also a high priority. The Foundation is also working on the welder workforce shortage and crisis in our industry. That focus involves many aspects from Recruitment to Retirement if we are to have a sustainable and viable solution to the welder shortage.
AWS
Certification Programs
The American Welding Society
offers a number of certification programs to assist industry in
identifying qualified welding personnel and to provide opportunities
for welding professionals to demonstrate their qualifications to the
welding industry. The premier AWS certification program is the
Certified Welding Inspector (CWI) program. Established in 1976, over
60,000 welding inspectors have been certified and approximately 25,000 are
currently certified. This program has been a major contributor to
improved weld quality and reduced costs of inspection. AWS offers
additional certification programs for welding supervisors, engineers,
radiographic interpreters, educators, and welders. Visit the Certification
pages on this website for additional information on any of these
programs.
FABTECH International & the AWS Welding Show
The FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show is largest event in
North America dedicated to showcasing a full spectrum of metal forming,
fabricating, tube and pipe, and welding equipment and technology.
In 2011, the event returns to McCormick Place in Chicago.
Thousands of buyers and sellers from around the world will gather to
exchange products and services, form new business relationships,
problem-solve, and share best practices. Be a part of this
exciting industrial tradition—make plans now to exhibit or attend
the 2011 FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show. For more
information visit our Show Pages.
The Professional Program
The AWS Professional Program
offers a broad spectrum of Technical
Papers describing the latest findings in welding research,
processes and applications. Special sessions and gatherings
exploring the boundaries of industry issues are also significant
features of the convention. Subjects cover an entire
range of industry concerns from the joining of space age
materials to production management techniques, testing, quality
assurance and more.
To
contact the Technical Papers Editor who is responsible for the
Professional Program, please email Martica
Ventura.
|