Welding prof blazes green trail

In a conversation with Samuel Colton, the topic of his excellent students is bound to come up - he says he can't help but brag about them.

As a professor of welding and coordinator of technical Instruction at  Arizona Western College, Colton said his students and teaching are what keep him going.

"It gives me energy," Colton said.

But Colton is no stranger to acclaim himself.

As the founder of the international group Welders Without Borders, Colton is routinely sought after to work with educators across the U.S. to share his knowledge. Most recently, Colton was in Tucson at the University of Arizona to present a seminar to 20 welding instructors from throughout Arizona, in turn helping make an impact on welding curriculum and welding students.

And those students are the future of the welding industry.

Colton said at AWC they're not only teaching the students valuable skills for their future, they're teaching them to value the environment.

He calls it a "value-driven" education.

First, it's the way they weld.

Colton said they bring in a fume extraction filtration system, which is one concept he includes in his "green welder training."

The exhaust helps control the amount of fumes the welders admit back into the environment.

"It's like driving cars and still having exhaust," he said.

In addition to green welding practices, the students are learning how to help prepare for the future.

"As the politicians and the president go around talking about the green economy, what they're really saying is 'We're going to have more welders,'" Colton said.

That's because most items that either directly or indirectly impact people's lives are the product of welding.

"It's kind of like welders are the secret glue," he said. "When people are driving around, they don't think about the fact that without welders, they can't have that drive."

Colton said welders also make it possible for the driver to have gasoline, tires and the radio inside the car.

Without welders, "you can't have anything," Colton said. "In Yuma, every farm, every military base, every government agency (and) commercial enterprise counts on welding to be a success."

So as America moves toward a green initiative, Colton said, there will be an even greater demand for welders.

"You can't have ethanol if you don't have welders to keep the farms going and the ethanol plants going," he said.

They take that one step further at the AWC program by developing green products, all while using the green technology and keeping the future in mind.

One of the projects, Colton said, is a quadricycle, a four-wheel bicycle with an electric motor that charges using solar energy.

"That's a cool idea," Colton said about the hybrid bike.

Students are also working on a solar water heater.

Colton said they're looking to partner with other departments at the college such as the chemistry and environmental science department to collect waste oil from food services and turn it into biodiesel to fuel the welding machines.

"What would have been waste is now being recycled," he said.

And, like some inventions from Benjamin Franklin, they're developing these projects to give to the world, rather than to patent, Colton said.

"Our goal is to let our students go out into the world with their new values and their skills and understand their role is essential to the other developments."

*** See slideshow of green welding instruction at http://www.yumasun.com/sections/slideshow/?id=553925