welding engineer

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hey guys, I was wondering if there was anyone on here that was an engineer and could tell me about what the job is like, what the hardest part is, what you like about it, and how much a welding engineer makes. thanks ahead.
Reply:This is a repeat thread.  Why didn't you just bump the other one to get the comments to the top?Here is the first one you posted.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...lding+engineer
Reply:Here are some links to salary data for UShttp://www.payscale.com/research/US/...ngineer/Salaryhttp://www.salaryexpert.com/Welding-...survey-813.htm
Reply:sorry but thanks obewan. i didnt even think of bumping it.
Reply:i have a bad memory...
Reply:I can answer some of the frustration part.  Most welding engineering jobs are hands on.  That means welding skills are important.  It is hard to keep up welding skills when most of the work is engineering related.  It pays to be able to weld though. Sometimes there are obstinate weldors who are doing things wrong.  In order to teach them the right way, you need to be able to outweld them.  I had one guy welding AWS D1.2 aluminum trusses.  His welds were failing in the field.  I told him how to do it right, but he refused to listen.  I had to take the torch and make the welds the right way, and cut both his welds and my own.  When we inspected for pen, my welds passed, and his failed.  But, his welds had a much better visual surface appearance, so they had fooled all the inspectors.  Sometimes too if you are in a union environment, you will not be allowed to weld.  I had a job once where some welding experiments were badly neeed to solve some serious welding problems.  Operations would not give us a welding operator or any production machine time, and the union refused to let engineering do the welding.  The stalemate lasted for months on end, and the problem went unsolved, and the customer ended up cancelling the contract for the parts, and we lost hundreds of thousands of dollars of business, and I ended up getting laid off.  It was infuriating to say the least.  But, then, there are some unions who give the red carpet treatment, and will be more than happy to weld any engineering or research projects, and they will do a top flight job too.  It pays during the job interview to determine if at all possible what the working relationship between the union and management is like.  If the company bad mouths the union, that is a red flag.Last edited by obewan; 06-30-2009 at 10:11 AM.