Jon Ferreira is a technical service supervisor for the worldwide inspection and engineering providers division of the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance coverage Firm.
You’ve got a ardour for welding however need to transfer up. Now what? Profession development requires greater than ardour—it requires thought, curiosity, and initiative. Licensed Welding Inspector (CWI) Jon Ferreira embodies these traits.
“I didn’t need the extra stress of dealing with my supervisor if I failed, so I took per week of trip to take an AWS CWI preparation course that concluded with efficiently passing the CWI check,” Ferreira stated.
Betting on himself proved to be a profitable profession transfer. As a technical service supervisor for the worldwide inspection and engineering providers division of the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance coverage Firm, Ferreira manages a staff of 95 to 100 inspectors. He additionally volunteers on the Nationwide Board Inspection Code and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers code committees.
“The CWI credential was the gateway into my present profession. Having the CWI positioned me for the place I’m at this time,” he stated.
His Profession Path
Ferreira started welding on the age of 16 whereas attending the Capital Space Technical Middle in Augusta, Maine. After graduating highschool, he continued his technical training at Southern Maine Neighborhood School, the place he studied built-in manufacturing with a deal with machine instrument and welding applied sciences.
At 16, he additionally started working for a small machine and fabrication store in Maine, gaining hands-on expertise earlier than becoming a member of Pittsfield, Maine-based Cianbro Corp. as a pipe and tube welder. Cianbro is a nationally acknowledged building providers supplier identified for its work throughout infrastructure, constructing, energy and vitality, pulp and paper, and different industrial sectors.
“I ultimately bought concerned with welding boiler tubes and making strain gear repairs,” stated Ferreira. “I used to be welding a big, heavy-wall pipe joint throughout an outage in excessive circumstances. The ambient temperature was nicely over 100 levels F and the pipe was preheated to 400 levels F.
“It wasn’t some of the pleasant jobs I’ve had,” he continued. “Periodically, an inspector would cease by to watch my work, verify the weld development, confirm that I used to be following the WPS, after which he would depart. That’s when it hit me: I spotted I wouldn’t be capable to do this sort of bodily demanding work perpetually. It was at that second I made the choice to pursue my CWI credential.”
With the credential on his resume, Ferreira earned the function of Cianbro’s QC inspector in 2007, the place he was the QC lead for a lot of boiler, strain vessel, and plant outages. He additionally turned the purpose of contact for HSB, the approved inspection company that Cianbro makes use of for third-party inspection providers after they carry out NBIC and ASME code work. When the HSB inspector who supplied providers to Cianbro introduced his plans to retire, Ferreira utilized for the job. He’s been working for HSB for the final 15 years.
The Nationwide Board of Boiler and Stress Vessel Inspectors’ Guidelines for Commissioned Inspectors (RCI-1) requires candidates to fulfill particular training and expertise level thresholds to qualify as a certified inspector. Finishing the AWS CWI program supplied Ferreira with the mandatory factors to fulfill these necessities. Since becoming a member of HSB, Ferreira has held a number of key roles, together with approved inspector (AI), approved inspector supervisor (IS), coach, ISO lead auditor, and technical supervisor.
Ferreira’s welding profession was perpetually modified when he determined to take the CWI examination, discovering a profession path that wasn’t there earlier than.
“I’m a kind of distinctive people who has gotten the place I’m and not using a formal school diploma,” Ferreira stated.
After 27 years in welding, Ferreira took management lessons on the Harvard Enterprise College and is presently pursuing a enterprise diploma from the College of Arizona to raised place himself for his subsequent profession alternative. In his 18th yr as a CWI, Ferreira is about to go for his second nine-year renewal. He used AWS D1.1 Structural Welding Code–Metal for his first examination and the ASME Boiler and Stress Vessel Code Part IX for subsequent exams.
His different licenses and certifications embody a State of Maine boiler inspector credential; Nationwide Board of Boilers and Stress Vessel Inspectors credentials holding the AI and IS fee with the B and R endorsements; and ISO lead auditor credentials for 9001, 14001, 45000.
“The Nationwide Board fee exams had been extraordinarily tough checks,” stated Ferreira. “Nonetheless, I’ve utilized the identical research basis to all of my checks.”
Concerning the CWI Examination
The CWI examination, which checks a candidate for welding inspection data and abilities, has three parts:
- Half A: Fundamentals – This part checks normal welding data, together with welding processes, security, nondestructive testing, metallurgy, symbols, and inspection strategies. It consists of 150 multiple-choice questions and requires broad technical understanding.
- Half B: Sensible – This hands-on part evaluates the flexibility to carry out visible inspections utilizing weld replicas, measurement instruments, and inspection gauges. Candidates consider bodily traits and make the right choice based mostly on the given acceptance standards or code necessities.
- Half C: Code e book – This part checks the candidate’s capability to navigate and apply a specific welding code (generally AWS D1.1, AWS D1.5 – Bridge Welding Code, ASME Part IX, or API 1104 – Welding of Pipelines and Associated Services). Candidates reply questions utilizing the precise code e book, specializing in understanding and making use of necessities of a code, customary, or specification. Additionally they might be taken as an endorsement after incomes the CWI certification.
Key points of the CWI examination embody:
- A passing rating – A minimal rating of 72% is required for every of the three components. Candidates should go all three components to earn the CWI credential. If a candidate fails one or two components, she or he could retake solely these sections inside a specified interval.
- Time restrict – Every half has a particular time restrict of 120 minutes.
- Code e book choice – For Half C, candidates can select from numerous code books as famous above.
- Preparation – Thorough preparation, together with coaching programs and observe exams, is essential for achievement.
Research Basis
“I’ve a fantastic finding out story, as a result of after I began getting ready for my first CWI examination, I had zero course,” Ferreira stated of his research strategy. “Some individuals stated Half C is the toughest half; I studied AWS D1.1 phrase for phrase like a novel. I don’t advocate this strategy.”
As a substitute, Ferreira recommends AWS’ one-week in-person seminar/check, which is the route he finally took. The in-person seminar affords some great benefits of a centered classroom surroundings; face-to-face time with an teacher; and entry to important sensible instruments, together with relevant AWS requirements, code books, a research information, a welding inspection expertise textbook and workbook, and a visible inspection toolkit.
AWS additionally affords two-week and eight-week on-line CWI seminars for individuals who can’t attend an in-person seminar. The net possibility was not accessible to Ferreira when he obtained his CWI 18 years in the past—he drove 12 hours to attend the in-person seminar. He took per week of non-public trip to attend, paying for the seminar out of his personal pocket. Had he requested, his firm would have paid for the seminar.
On the subject of finding out for the examination, listed below are a few of the essential classes Ferreira discovered over time:
Ferreira is a proponent of in-person CWI seminars; on-line seminars can be found to those that can’t attend in individual.
- Clever navigation – “Through the seminar, I discovered find out how to navigate the code e book, and that was the important thing,” he stated. “I discovered find out how to break down the query, take away pointless data, and apply essential pondering to reply the query, ‘What are they asking me for?’ Subsequent, I take key phrases from the query and apply that into the code e book, beginning with the desk of contents.”
- Keep away from overtabbing – The D1.1 code e book runs longer than 600 pages, and the desk of contents is the first navigation information. That stated, everybody finding out for the CWI check makes use of some type of tab system as supplemental navigation—however don’t go loopy with tabs. “Overtabbing your code e book can typically create extra confusion than trying one thing up within the desk of contents,” Ferreira defined. “Simply be sure to know your tabbing system and do what’s best for you.”
- Time administration – “The CWI examination is time-based, and all questions are weighted equally,” Ferreira stated. “Know the way lengthy you may have for every query. Don’t dissipate worthwhile time getting caught. Reply the questions you possibly can rapidly, construct up a time cushion, then return and work on the more durable questions. There may be not a variety of room for error in time administration.”
- Learn and reread – Don’t work in haste, Ferreira cautioned. Learn the query totally. When consulting the code e book, don’t cease studying when you assume you may have the reply. Reread the part that you just assume has the reply, then learn the next sentence or paragraph. “By studying the following sentence, you possibly can be taught that the code permits or denies you the flexibility to do one thing else,” Ferreira stated. “I believe the CWI examination makes positive you’re a essential thinker, and which means ensuring you comprehend a whole part, not simply discovering one thing that matches your wants and transferring on.”
- Research as a gaggle – “Through the seminar, we studied as a gaggle, and that was a primary for me,” Ferreira recalled. “We didn’t know one another from a gap within the wall, however we had been in the identical boat. We studied collectively at evening, working the observe exams and workout routines, and I discovered that helpful.”
- Know your inspection instruments – Analysis their correct use and calibrate and zero-out all gauges for correct readings. Don’t use excessively worn gauges. “The very last thing you need to do is mark a great weld as unsatisfactory as a result of your scale was off or V-WAC gauge had a free screw,” he stated.
- Strategic strategy – The CWI examination is a number of alternative, and like many standardized checks, sensible test-taking methods might help. If a query stumps you, attempt to rule out the plain outliers. “Learn and reread the solutions,” suggested Ferreira, “as a result of the right alternative may very well be a distinction between a ‘shall’ and a ‘could’ within the terminology.”
- Return – All checks have a five-minute warning earlier than the tip. For questions skipped, return and make an informed guess. By no means go away any questions clean.
- Ultimate sanity verify – For the Half B examination, skipping solutions may cause issues when you don’t preserve observe of those you’ve skipped. For that cause, Ferreira stated, write down your solutions on a separate piece of paper and word the questions you skipped. Rapidly assessment questions and solutions you skipped towards that separate web page along with your solutions to make certain they don’t seem to be misaligned.
Making a Distinction
Getting ready for the CWI examination sometimes takes six months to a yr, relying on a candidate’s schedule and tempo. Whereas the method requires dedication, pursuing a profession in inspection can open the door to significant alternatives and long-term skilled development.
“It’d sound cliché, however I genuinely imagine that my work—whether or not it’s via inspections, mentoring others, or contributing to code committees—serves a larger goal,” stated Ferreira.
The function of a CWI carries a excessive degree of duty, typically involving essential selections that instantly influence public and industrial security. By figuring out and addressing weld defects earlier than they grow to be essential points, CWIs act as an important line of protection towards disasters by defending lives, infrastructure, and the surroundings.
“Folks make selections, and there are penalties for these selections,” he stated. “I emphasize that codes exist to make sure security, however that it’s equally essential to use sound judgment in all points of our work.”
