A ten-hour flight from Ghana to New York brought mechanical engineer Daniel Kwarkyi, owner of Danest Engineering in Tarkwa to Troy, Ohio to attend Hobart Institute of Welding Technology (HIWT) and to become an American Welding Society Certified Welding Inspector (AWS-CWI).  To enhance his welding skills, Daniel enrolled first in the five-month Structural Welding Program.   

He then took the two-week Preparation for the American Welding Society Certified Welding Inspector Examination course and the six-hour CWI examination.  Daniel selected Hobart Institute after exploring his options, receiving recommendations from some of the U.S. companies that are operating in his country, and checking the www.welding.org web site. 

“I must make certain the welding contracts for the mining companies that my company executes are of good quality and meet the codes,” says Daniel.  “It is important to have a welding inspector available to test the welds as the equipment is manufactured and the work is being done.”

Daniel began his career working as a maintenance supervisor in the gold mines and later founded Danest Engineering in Tarkwa, a company that provides new fabrication and installation of equipment used in the mining operations.  The 20 people Daniel employs also repair, refurbish, and resurface mining equipment including shovels, loaders, and backhoes.  If contracts require, Daniel hires additional employees who have received welding training in local vocational schools.  In addition, Danest Engineering rents equipment such as the 500 amp diesel engine drive welders manufactured by Miller Electric Manufacturing Company.

The majority of the world’s gold comes from the African nations of Ghana and South Africa.  Tarkwa is located in a green, mountainous region about 60 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, where Daniel’s family vacations on the beautiful beaches.  Tarkwa is a city of over 40,000 people, located in a predominantly agricultural and mining region.  Besides gold and manganese mining, big rubber plantations produce natural crumb rubber for both export and local consumption in the production of vehicle tires. Manganese and silica (sand) for glass production are also produced.  Other industries in the city produce various building materials and consumer goods.