Fusing the future

MOSES LAKE — As class begins in the welding shop, instructor Shawn McDaniel doesn't hardly take a breath as he inspects student projects from workstation to workstation.

The mile-a-minute style is common for McDaniel, as the welding instructor spends most of his day in the 3400 building of the Big Bend Community College campus. Welding has not only been a career, but a way of life for McDaniel, who took it up after his father, a diesel mechanic, taught him the trade.

"I had a Ph.D. in breaking things as a child," McDaniel smiled. "And it became very beneficial to fix my problems."

With a degree in electronics engineering with an emphasis in robotics, McDaniel spent much of his free time growing up repairing tractors and other agricultural transports from his home in Monroe. He was raised in Monroe, and has lived throughout the west side of the state. He took one of his first jobs in welding at a company in Bothell.

"Just growing up I had an interest in tinkering with all sorts of stuff," he said.

Metal became his medium. A craftsman can only put so many nails in a piece of wood, McDaniel said, but a piece of metal can be welded over and over again. Years behind the torch have led to McDaniel's repair of everything from stair climbers to farm utensils.

"Once you get good at breaking them, you've got to be able to fix them, so you don't get in a world of trouble," McDaniel said. "It's best if you can have some fun doing it too."

After years in shops, there are still a few varieties of the trade McDaniel has not performed. He has never taken the opportunity to learn underwater welding, but lists it as an endeavor to try in the future.

One of his goals in the welding program at Big Bend is to begin a welding art class. Right now though, his students are working on more traditional projects.

Students in the program are taught general methods to be successful in the welding industry, eventually earning jobs throughout Grant County and elsewhere throughout the country. Some of McDaniel's students tend to move beyond the general methods and specialize in certain fields as well.

His shop teaches six of the world's common welding processes. His students also work to support industries like Katana, a windmill tower manufacturing company recently opened at the Port of Ephrata. He said he tries to get input from a number of industries in the area so his students can be successful in the industry. The demand for welders is so high locally, McDaniel said some of his students are working full-time while also completing the program.

As he walks from station to station in the college welding shop, McDaniel is head to toe in protective gear, including mask and jacket. The profession he says is like any other trade, and can be as dangerous or as safe as the precautions taken by the welders themselves.

Between sparks and melting metal, McDaniel is surrounded by a shop full of students looking to learn by doing. In between demonstrating techniques, he checks individual work as a constant stream of students come up to McDaniel for his acceptability. Students in McDaniel's classes come to class for morning lectures, and spend the afternoon hours performing hands-on work on a variety of welding methods. The department also teaches a Saturday session focused around farm workers.

He calls his the best and most demanding job a person can have. McDaniel started teaching welding in 1993, first starting at his current position in 2004.

"I like teaching because I get to take all these people and show them how to make money for the rest of their lives," he said.

When he's not in his welding shop at Big Bend, McDaniel admits he spends a few hours doing the same work at home. He does take a break when he can to take his 10-year-old son, Shawn II, to the river fishing or on other activities around the Columbia Basin.

"This is a great place where I can take my boy and we can go fishing or go to the ice skating rink, there's all sorts of things we can do," McDaniel said.

And the college's welding instructor has no shortage of praise for the department in which he teaches. With the support of the school and communities, McDaniel said they strive to be the best welding shop in the state of Washington.

"I getta do what I like and I get paid for it," he said. "This position I've been working for the last 13 years to get into."