Phase 1 · Opens January 2028
Metalwork & Fabrication
From reading a print to a finished, certified weldment.
Full-scope metal trades — measure and lay out true, cut clean, form accurately, weld sound, finish right, and build things that hold. Learned with a torch and a grinder in hand, not from a slide.
What this program produces
A fabricator who can take a drawing — or a sketch, or a broken part — and produce a piece that is accurate, sound, and safe: laid out true, cut and formed to tolerance, welded to code, and finished to last. A maker who understands metal.
The program map
A modular path to master level
~18–24 months full-time to master; a certified-welder + basic-fab exit is ~9–12 months.
| Phase | Focus | Proposed hours |
|---|---|---|
| Foundations | Safety, materials & metallurgy, measuring & layout, print reading, shop math | ~140 |
| Cutting & forming | Mechanical and thermal cutting, grinding/prep, bending, rolling, sheet forming | ~220 |
| Welding core | Oxy-fuel, SMAW, GMAW/FCAW, GTAW — positions, on carbon steel | ~520 |
| Materials & positions | Stainless & aluminum; vertical/overhead; pipe & tube; certification prep | ~300 |
| Fabrication | Structural, ornamental, sheet-metal, and repair fabrication from prints | ~300 |
| Advanced & digital | Forging/heat treat, machining basics, CNC/CAD-CAM, finishing & QC | ~220 |
| The business | Estimating, quoting, running a fab shop | ~80 |
| Total | ~1,780 h master track |
Proposed hours, cohort size, and calendar are draft, pending sign-off.
What you'll master
The whole trade, aspect by aspect.
Foundations
Safety, metallurgy and materials, precise measuring and layout, print reading, and shop math.
Cutting & forming
Mechanical and thermal cutting, grinding and prep, bending, rolling, and sheet forming.
Welding core
Oxy-fuel, stick (SMAW), MIG/flux-core (GMAW/FCAW) and TIG (GTAW) on carbon steel, in position.
Materials & positions
Stainless and aluminum; vertical and overhead; pipe and tube; certification preparation.
Fabrication
Build real things from prints — structural, ornamental, sheet-metal, and repair fabrication.
Advanced & digital
Forging and heat treat, machining basics, CNC/CAD-CAM, finishing and quality control.
The business
Estimating, quoting, and running a fab shop — the “Create” step.
Credentials you build toward
- The Skill Center Fabrication Master certificate — our competency record, signed task by task.
- AWS alignment — welding taught to AWS standards; prepare for AWS Certified Welder tests (e.g. D1.1 structural steel). ⬜ confirm AWS test-facility access in-region.
- AWS SENSE-style entry-level welder benchmarks as interim milestones. ⬜ NBTE/TVET alignment to confirm.
How it's taught
- Learn by doing — professional tools, real problems.
- Competency-based, not seat-time: a task is done when you can do it correctly, safely, unsupervised, to spec.
- Real work early — you're on the live bay under a master well before you graduate.
- Taught by master practitioners and Skill Missionaries who have done the work at a high level.