Northwood Technical College in Superior, Wisconsin hosted the American Welding Society’s (AWS) Behind the Mask competition. The different metalworking challenges help prepare our next generation of welders. More than 157,000 welding professionals are approaching retirement, according to AWS. The competition is a way for today’s welding students to show what they’ve got.

From construction and manufacturing, to automotive and shipbuilding, there’s a lot you can do as a skilled welder. Aleasha Hladilek Falter has been a welding instructor for a decade at Northwood Technical College. She says the AWS Behind the Mask competition provides today’s welding students a chance to show off their skills.

“If you haven’t tried it before, it’s a skill you can pick up as long as you’re committed to it. There’s a lot of practice with stick, MIG, and then their cutting exercises,”Hladilek Falter said. “It gives them a chance to kind of test their abilities, challenge themselves, and also experience what it’s going to feel like to go in for a job interview.”

There’s a big need for more skilled workers in the STEM field and trades like welding . Several instructors at the competition say college students are sometimes offered jobs before they are finished with their welding program.

“Welding job interviews are really focused on your welding skills. This competition is focused on giving them a little bit of an adrenaline rush. They’ve got a short time limit for running blueprints,” Hladilek Falter said. “The blueprint is focused on a lot of the skills they’ve been gaining over their first year in their welding school.”

The American Welding Society says there’s a need of 80,000 welding jobs that need to be filled annually between now and 2029. On of the many students competing in Behind the Mask is Purdee Toland is from Solon Springs, Wisconsin. She wanted to get more into the trades when she first tried welding in high school.

“My dad kind of pushed me towards the trades. So I think not a lot of people are going into it nowadays, and there’s always a push for it” Toland said. “I’m really excited. I applied for the Pipefitters Union, so hoping to get in there.”

Eugene Stitt has been teaching students how to weld for six years at the Mesabi Range College. He says students have less than half an hour during the competition to complete three tasks using stick and wire welding.

“One of the things to understand is we’re starving for welders. They’re at my age, so it’s time to go. We want to retire, but we’ve got to bring the youth up to speed,” Stitt said. “We push hard to get more women in our industry. There’s a lot of talent there.”

Some of the winners of the competition received scholarships to help with their education. Christian Manchester from Minnesota North College won a $1,000 scholarship. During the Oxy Fuel Competition 1st place was Patrick Filiopovich, 2nd place was Parker Nelson, and 3rd place was Marria Isaccs.

Next was the Shielded metal arc welding competition. Jace Isaccs won 1st place, 2nd place was Austin Schroder, 3rd place was Parker Nelson. Finally there was the Gas metal arc welding competition. Christian Manchester secured 1st place, followed by Jack Spencer winning 2nd place, and Wyatt Vohler finished in 3rd place.