International Conference on Welding Technology
8th Edition of International Conference on Welding Technology
https://welding-conferences.sciencefather.com/
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Abstract Submission- https://x-i.me/arumem
How an offset smoker connects generations of welding students
MEDINA — When Ron Jackson was a student at Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES in 1980, he and classmate Nelson Jeffrey built two fireboxes to raffle and bring awareness to the vocational welding program. Jeffrey's mom won one of the fireboxes, and Jackson asked to buy it from her. She agreed.
"She didn't want it, so I bought it, and it ended up heating my parents' house and then ... my home years later," Jackson said.
Fast forward to 2023 and Jackson, a welding teacher at Orleans / Niagara BOCES' Orleans Career and Technical Education Center who's passionate about barbecue, found himself wanting to connect that old firebox to an offset smoker that he had made from a 500-gallon propane tank.
Jackson said he realized connecting the firebox "would be a great project for my students to work on, to get some real-world experience with the skills they were learning in class."
And so, Jackson's junior and senior welding students completed their assignment, getting hands-on experience in various tasks, from making a ledge for grates, and making frames and grates, to learning how to design and make the various necessary connecting parts and, finally, fitting and welding.
Most of all, Jackson said, “The students learned how to work as a team. We also had to follow safety procedures, and think about how as projects grow you need to pay attention to new risks as they arise. It took them two months to complete.”
The students said they had fun doing it.
"It was like putting together a big puzzle, and we all learned a lot of different skills creating parts and welding them into the smoker," Hannah Zastrow (Newfane) said.
"We welded the racks and built sections of it. It was like being in a real-world job site," Gavin Ciarfella (Medina) said.
Colby Criswell (Lockport) especially enjoyed the overhead welding. “It was a great experience as far as learning how to problem solve to make it all work,” he said.
Altogether, 14 students helped out with the project, including Alayna Smith, Haley Shaffer, Max Schultz, Joseph Mahar, Bryden McMurray, Tim Dent, Ian Eibl, Dominic LoBiondo, Hailey Skernick, Jaymis Taylor, and Owen McIntyre.
Their reward was a meal at OCTEC: smoked pulled pork and brisket prepared by Jackson and his wife Debi at their home, and sides including Mrs. Platt's potato salad, welding teacher Adam Zerby's "famous" cheesy potatoes, Debi Jackson's mac and cheese and teacher aide Amanda Baker's baked beans. In addition, senior student Alex Ostrozinski brought in a big chocolate cake.
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