SANFORD - Central Carolina Community College has become a FANUC Robotic Certified Training Site.

CCCC Welding Technology students are able to learn robotic welding thanks to a $233,950 Duke Energy Foundation grant provided for high technology workforce training. The grant funds are being used to incorporate robotics into a range of manufacturing-related training programs at the college. With this training, graduates entering the workforce in the fields of welding, maintenance, and quality control will be equipped for success in the automated production environments of the 21st Century.

“We are delighted and profoundly grateful to Duke Energy for this generous grant,” said CCCC President Dr. T. Eston Marchant. “In recent years, the college has made major investments in a range of training programs in welding. These robotic welders will help us to train students and workers with the high-tech skills that manufacturers demand. That translates into better job opportunities and increased economic development for the area.”

With the funds, the college has purchased three robotic welding cells for the Welding Technology program at its Lee County Campus.

CCCC students who take the Robotic Welding (Automated Welding Cutting) class are required to first take two prerequisite classes. When enrolled in the class, students receive training through the online FANUC training program and additional course related material. They have to complete three online training modules – Robot Operations, Arc Tool Operations and Programming, and ArcTool. Students have to complete several hands-on programming lab assignments, learn how to program the robot to weld using the Arc Tool software, and work in groups to complete a final welding project/program in which they weld an assembly. When students complete the class, they receive a CCCC Automated Welding Certificate in which the FANUC Certified education emblem is attached.

Charles Bell, CCCC Welding Instructor, says the students enjoy the Robotic Welding class. “I am very pleased with the outcomes of this class and it seems every class learns more than the previous class,” says Bell. “In this class, we also teach the students how to cut metal using automated cutting equipment. They learn how to program software that operates a plasma cutting torch. Students learn how to program the machine to cut metal to virtually any shape possible.”

CCCC offers a Diploma in Welding Technology, which can be earned in four semesters, and a Certificate in Welding Technology, which can be earned in two semesters. Graduates can continue their education to earn an Associate in Applied Science Degree in Industrial Systems Technology.

The Diploma and Certificate in Welding Technology provide students with a sound understanding of the science, technology, and applications essential for successful employment. Career opportunities exist not only in the welding and metalworking industries, but also in construction, manufacturing, fabrication, sales, quality control, supervision, and welding-related self-employment.

To learn more about the CCCC Welding Technology program, visit the website www.cccc.edu/curriculum/majors/weldingtechnology.

For more information on the CCCC Welding Technology program, contact Charles Bell at 919-718-7306 or by email at cbell@cccc.edu.