The Hobart Institute celebrates the longevity of our instructors:

40 years:  Chuck Ford, Technical Instructor
37 years:  Ernie Jones, Skill Instructor
35 years:  Mike Higgins, Skill Instructor
                  Elmer Swank, Technical Instructor
30 years:  Mike Moore, Skill Instructor
                  Steve Saul, Skill Instructor
                  Willard Shade, Skill Instructor / Certification
                  Jim Starry, Skill Instructor
27 years:  Brian Kendall, Skill Instructor
25 years:  Bob Fisher, Skill Instructor
                  Ed Limbert, Skill Instructor / Certification
                  Dale Morris, Skill Instructor
23 years:  Karl Zerkle, Skill Instructor / Certification
21 years:  Tom Crawford, Skill Instructor / Certification
18 years:  Michael Wolff
14 years:  Kevin Scott
11 years:  Nelson Morales
9 years:    Jim Collins
5 years:    Steve Randles
4 years:    Ralph Jenkins
3 years:    Luke Bailey

477 years of combined experience!  That is quite an accomplishment in these days of company downsizing and mid-life displaced workers!  These instructors provide the Hobart Institute with a wealth of knowledge that they share on a daily basis with students.

So, how do these years benefit the students? 

·         STABILITY.  These instructors provide stability of instruction.  They follow standard teaching methods that allow them to build on a students’ previous learning experience.

·         KNOWLEDGE.  Those teaching share the knowledge they have personally accumulated throughout their years by being extremely familiar with the subject matter being taught.  

·         EXPERIENCE.  Some techniques within the welding process are only acquired through experience that can then be shared with the students. 

·         confidence.  The Hobart Institute instructor staff is very confident that they are using a teaching method combining human thinking, coordination, and observation developed by HIWT and improved over the years on a continuing basis.  These methods utilizing proprietary HIWT training materials assure students that they are learning from the best!

·         skill.  Each instructor exhibits a high level of skill in the processes they teach and can demonstrate processes each step along the way. 

·         understanding.  Teaching experience enables them to recognize and understand the needs of students and recognize students with special needs.

·         professionalism.  The instructors recognize personality traits in students and know how to deal with various size classes in an efficient and professional manner. 

Students who have attended Hobart Institute will tell you that it is the experience of and interaction with the staff that made their training valuable. 

Some of the more notable changes that have occurred during the past 35 years, according to Instructor Steve Saul include a greater variety of teaching materials.  Students can see the arc action and the actual processes on video today before attempting to practice the processes.  In the early days, it was mostly lecture in the classrooms.  The more recent materials developed by the Hobart Training Materials department have greatly enhanced the learning experience.  The instructor can concentrate more time and attention to individual students by responding to questions and providing demonstrations rather than giving lengthy lectures. 

“Equipment upgrades have been beneficial also,” says Steve.  “Power sources have better features and more convenient settings.  And plasma cutting is more popular now vs. oxyacetylene cutting in previous years.”

“There is a greater emphasis on corporate training today,” continues Steve.  “Hobart Institute conducts much more field training now than they did even ten years ago.”

While there are less manufacturing jobs in the U.S. today, there is an increase in construction.  Older factories are costly to operate and are being demolished to make way for new ones that are less expensive to maintain.  Infrastructure within the U.S. that was installed fifty to one hundred years ago is now requiring repair and replacement.  More emphasis is being placed on inspection and verification of welds.  Inspection methods are becoming more complicated opening career paths in the area of welding inspection.

“Students themselves haven’t really changed much over the years,” says Steve.  “Perhaps those who attend HIWT are slightly younger because more are coming directly out of high school.  Welders have been in demand in recent years so the number of workers being displaced – times when older people return to school -- haven’t been as great.”

Instructor Mike Moore has maintained a written record of students he has had over the past 20 years and appreciates the diversity of the students.  “I have taught students from all over the world,” he says. 

In the August 2003 Welding Journal, AWS Education Scholarship Committee Chair Nancy Carlson stated, “Welding is more than ‘burning metal.’  It is about possibilities.  Realizing those possibilities requires an understanding of welding principles, a questioning mind, a desire to excel, an enthusiasm for knowledge, a valuing of diversity, the patience to practice and perfect skills, an openness to challenge the status quo.  The welding teachers, instructors, and professors who guide these welding students help bring out those qualities in their students along with instilling welding knowledge.”

The instructors at the Hobart Institute are well aware of these possibilities and strive to channel the efforts of their students to prepare them for positive and satisfying careers.

Reference:  “Education: Preparation for Change,” by Nancy Carlson. Welding Journal, p. 8, August 2003.