From Truckee Meadows Community College:
A unique welding fabrication project designed as a SkillsUSA competition challenge has also become a first-of-its-kind donation — ten fire pits for families to enjoy while camping out in Nevada this summer.
Clayton Madole, a welding Instructor at Truckee Meadows Community College, had a vision to create something special when he was working on this year’s SkillsUSA contest project. The objective was to design a useful product that could also show the skill level of the students testing. The idea for building fire pits came to the forefront and the communication with the Nevada Division of State Parks began.
“A representative from the Parks gave Clayton a flier, and so he came up with a design,” said Scott Holcomb, fellow welding Instructor. “He made the prototype and the Parks representatives loved it. We modified the prototype.” Steve Fuller, a local engineer who is also a welding and machining student drew up the prints in SolidWorks software, and therefore they had a professional printed plan to use.
Nine high school teams and one college team constructed ten fire pits during the 2016 SkillsUSA Nevada State Leadership & Skills Conference, which took place April 12-15 throughout multiple locations in Northern Nevada. Each team of students received the plans at the beginning of the competition. Some of the materials were pre-cut, but the teams had to modify other materials to comply with the blueprints. Holcomb said the teams were made up of about three students each. Teams had five hours to complete their fire pit. The fire pit challenge fit in the SkillsUSA category of welding fabrication.
Winnemucca, McQueen and Reed High Schools took home gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively. The team from Great Basin College also earned a gold medal for their work.
Ten new fire pits were donated to the Parks on Friday, April 29. Each fire pit has a plaque identifying that it was built during the 2016 SkillsUSA competition.
The plaque also contains information about the donated materials from TMCC and identifies the school team who built the fire pit.
“Everyone I’ve talked to has said these fire pits are amazing,” Madole said. “It’s a great concept, and the students worked very hard in the competition. Their work will be seen by everyone at the park sites where the fire pits are installed.”
For more information about the welding program at TMCC, please call 775-856-5300.
From Truckee Meadows Community College
