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Southern Maine Community College has opened a new virtual welding laboratory, allowing students to practice welding on a welding simulator while learning valuable skills to advance or start their careers.

The simulation laboratory is located in the college’s Midcoast campus in Brunswick, allowing students to practice their welding skills virtually on any of the 10 welding simulators, which can enhance their learning experience while saving material costs. This is the first of its kind in the Maine community college system.

A student uses a welding simulator in the new virtual welding laboratory of Southern Maine Community College. Courtesy photo

"These machines remove the mystery of student performance because their work is measured and they can see the results on the big screen in front of them," SMCC workforce development director Jim Whitten said in the November 10 news release . "The simulator provides instant feedback, allowing teachers to help students understand the welding angle, arc length, speed, and other factors to achieve good welding."

Southern Maine Community College offers welding courses through its workforce training program, mainly in cooperation with businesses that require skilled employees. The college also offers welding courses in its vocational skills courses and credits.

The welding simulator in the virtual welding laboratory is called VRTEX 360 Virtual Reality Welding Trainer, manufactured by Lincoln Electric.

When using these machines, students will wear virtual reality headsets. When they are welding operations, these headsets will create a scene that contains realistic welding sounds, molten metal, sparks and polishing. When students complete their welding exercises, the machine will score their welding skills and also record the amount of material they use each time they weld. You can also replay the welding exercises so that students and teachers can determine what is good and what is not good.

According to the press release, these machines save costs because students do not waste raw materials when they learn how to solder for the first time.

Welding instructor Penni Barbeau demonstrates on the welding simulator. Courtesy photo

This week, Jared Ambs of Brunswick used these machines for the first time as a student in the SMCC Manufacturing Technician Training Program, which was provided in cooperation with General Dynamics Bath Steel Works.

According to the email, Ambs was "impressed by his knowledge of the different types of welds, welding angles, speeds and other welding elements on the machine."

Ambs scored low in his first virtual practice, but in a short period of time raised his score to the low point in the 80s and 90s (0-100 points).

"I have never soldered before, so it is nice to understand what I am going to do and how soldering works," Ambs wrote. "This is a very neat system."

John Gallagher, a welding lecturer at Southern Maine Community College, said that the students applied the knowledge they learned on the virtual machine to the SMCC welding laboratory when using a real welding machine. He said that students are motivated to learn on virtual machines.

"They like it," Gallagher said in an email. "It works like a video game, and the younger generation understands video games. I don't think it can be better."

The machines were paid for using a $296,000 grant from the Maine Community College System.

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