Welding Technology

Melrose Park, IL

Commercial & Public Service construction work requiring highly skilled tradespeople continues to grow in Illinois, especially in the Chicago region. Repair, maintenance, and new construction is fueling a steady need for individuals skilled in welding technologies, and there is a growing shortage of these technicians in infrastructure as well as the auto and diesel industries. More than 1,500 additional welding jobs are projected to open every year until at least 2026*, and Lincoln Tech’s Melrose Park campus offers Welding training that can teach you the necessary skills to enter this in-demand career field.

Welding Technology Program Details

Comprised of eight courses spanning 960 hours of in-depth training, the Welding Technology program prepares the student to enter many industries as a new welder. Graduates will have completed the following training:

• Significant practice time welding plate metal, carbon steel plates, aluminum, and stainless steel in individual welding booths.
• Learning & perfecting precision cuts in steel plates and pipe using superheated gasses.
• Learning the properties of certain metals and how metal transitions between its liquid and solid states during the welding process.
• Welding in horizontal, vertical, and overhead settings.
• Build hands-on skills in a variety of welding procedures for plate steel and piping. These processes include Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW), Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW/MIG), Flux Core Arc Welding (FCAW), and Gas Tungsten Arc Gas Welding (GTAW/TIG). Three of these four methods are standard welding processes used in construction, fabrication, and/or plant maintenance work settings.
• Completion of a 10-hour OSHA approved safety orientation.

Learn from Experienced AWS Certified Welders

Welding instructors at our Melrose Park campus are experienced and certified welding professionals. Our staff instructors must have a minimum of five years of welding experience, where a minimum of 3 years are focused on the welding types offered within these two welding programs. Instructors must also have earned their American Welding Society (AWS) certification. They must also maintain any additional valid licenses and certifications as specified by the state in which they are teaching.

* Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers, on the Internet at https://www.careeronestop.org/Toolkit/StateAndLocal/ProjectedEmployment.aspx?soccode=514121&location=Illinois&dataview=table (visited May 26, 2020). Projected Annual Job Openings refers to the average annual job openings due to growth and net replacement. ​

The following career training program is offered at Lincoln Tech in Melrose Park, IL: