On Thursday, May 4, 2023, the Coastal Pines Technical College (CPTC) Welding program hosted its inaugural Weld-Off Welding Competition on the Waycross campus. There were two different categories of competitors: dual enrollment and traditional students. The dual enrollment category had a total of 10 competitors and there were four traditional student competitors. Each category winner received a welding machine, various welding gear and supplies, a bookstore scholarship from the CPTC Foundation, and a trophy. Contestants and winners were comprised of students from several of our welding programs from our seven campuses, and high school dual enrollment partners.
1st Place Traditional Student: Erick Plata from the Waycross campus (instructors, James Twilley & Doug Furman)
1st Place Dual Enrollment Student: Ben Swain from Pierce County High (instructor, William Warner)
2nd Place Dual Enrollment Student: Jason Corbitt from Brantley County High (instructor, Tim Burchall)
3rd Place Dual Enrollment Student: Chris Herrin from Brantley County High (instructor: Tim Burchall)
Weld-Off Program Champion: Instructor James Twilley
A huge thank you goes out to Mr. Walter Brown from the Trident Refit facility at Kingsbay for coming to judge the Weld-Off, and two of our local welding employers, Sierra International from Jesup and GATX in Waycross. The support of our local community partners does not go unnoticed.
For more information on the welding program at Coastal Pines, or to inquire about the next 2nd annual CPTC Weld-Off Competition, visit www.coastalpines.edu. For more pictures of our winners, visit https://bit.ly/3M9NWdJ