Novel Iron Works, an AISC member and AISC-certified fabricator and erector, hosted New Hampshire’s first-ever regional welding competition on Friday, May 7. This competition is the second to tie into the AISC Education Foundation’s Rex I. Lewis Scholarship Program besides the first that Puma Steel co-owner Lewis himself started five years ago in Wyoming.
Students from the Seacoast School of Technology in Exeter, the Regional Career Technical Center in Dover, and the Portsmouth Career Technical Education Center gathered at Novel Iron Works in Greenland, N.H. to compete for scholarship money. The team from Portsmouth won the top three places in the regional competition. First place winner Addison Kady walked away with a $1,000 scholarship to a Community College System of New Hampshire welding program of his choice, and the second and third place winners were each awarded a $500 scholarship.
“We have wonderful partnerships that have pulled together for the benefit of the students, the industry and the state," Hollie Noveletsky, competition organizer and chief executive officer of Novel Iron Works, told Seacoastonline. "We are just hoping to recruit young people into welding careers and increase the state’s pool of skilled welders."
The competition in Greenland, N.H., was one of two regional competitions. The other was co-sponsored by Capone Iron Corporation, an AISC member and AISC-certified fabricator, and held at White Mountain Community College in Berlin, N.H. Winners from both regional events will advance to the state competition, which SL Chasse Steel Fabricators, an AISC member and AISC-certified fabricator, is hosting May 21 at Manchester Community College.
Find out more about the competition and see more photos at Seacoastonline.