Page 7 - HIWT Summer 2011 World of Welding

hiwt@welding.org HOBART INSTITUTE OF WELDING TECHNOLOGY

SUCCESS STORY
DESTINED FOR THE WELDING INDUSTRY

Michael Crumpler is the welding instructor at Southeastern
Technical College in Vidalia Georgia. His unplanned welding
career began 25 years ago when his mother helped him buy
his first car. Reality hit Michael when he learned he would
have to get a job to pay for the gas and insurance. The job
search began with his mother's prayers and her driving him
to Imperial Fabricating in New Deal, TN. Because he had no
skills or work experience, the application process took only a
few minutes. The interviewer asked Michael if he could weld,
read blueprints, or fabricate. He could do none of these things.

“It was hard for me to believe it when I heard that I was ex-
actly what they were looking for,” says Michael. “They said
they needed someone they could train. I could not believe it.
It seems as if I was destined for the welding industry. I have
loved welding ever since.”

He wanted to learn more about welding technology and to ad-
vance his career opportunities, so he earned a degree at Brew-
ton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Georgia and a diploma
in Welding and Joining Technology from Heart of Georgia
Technical College in Dublin, GA. He took additional courses
for professional development at the Hobart Institute of Weld-
ing Technology including Arc Welding Inspection and Quality
Control, Welding Instructor Course, Preparation for the AWS
Certified Welding Inspector/Educator Examination Course
and Preparation for the AWS Certified Welding Supervisor
Examination Course.

Michael has been a certified structural welder and has had a
variety of welding job opportunities, including working as a
pipe welder and boilermaker for B.E. & K. Industrial Contractors in Birmingham, Alabama. In addition to working in many
states across the country, he has traveled to Managua, Nicaragua to supervise, fabricate, and weld during the construction of
the country's very first peanut- shelling plant. He has held certifications in numerous welding processes, including structural
welding and pipe welding. In addition to being a welding instructor, he is a Certified Welding Educator, a Certified Welding
Inspector, a Certified Welding Supervisor, and is a member of the American Welding Society.

His teaching experience began as a full-time welding instructor in 2001 at Swainsboro Technical College. He also taught dual
enrollment courses with David Emanuel Academy, Johnson County, Swainsboro and Jenkins County High Schools. In 2007,
four of his students from Jenkins County High School won first place in the FFA welding competition; one student even made
a perfect score on the welding test.

“I am teaching my students not only job skills, but life skills,” says Michael. “Working with a young person and seeing every-
thing come together and hearing them say, ‘I can do this,’ is my favorite part of the job.”

Editorial note: Michael’s success story is featured in the 7th edition of Welding Principles and Applications, by Larry
Jeffus, ©2011 by Cengage Learning. Michael has returned to Hobart Institute several times throughout the years
for continuous learning opportunities.

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