Piping hot

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/06/2022 (1484 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The next generation of plumbers, welders and steamfitters will be learning their trade in a state-of-the-art new technical college featuring 3D models and augmented reality.

The 31,000 square-foot Piping Industry Technical College is set to open in November. United Association Local 254 — which represents around 1,300 people in plumbing, steamfitting, welding, sprinkler fitting and refrigeration — bought a Hutchings Street land parcel six years ago with the institution in mind.

“There’s certain things within our industry that we have to do in person with our hands,” said Steve Ducharme, the union’s training director and college president. “But, it’s critical that we are flexible and able to adapt to new ways of delivering stuff.”

The union has offered training for over 11 years to members, non-members, high school students, Indigenous groups and apprentices.

“There’s a lot of Indigenous (people) that are up in the northern communities that can’t make it (here),” Ducharme said.

Under the new set-up, students will get on-site experience regardless of their location, if they have internet connection and a computer, Ducharme said.

Instructors will scan objects so users can work with 3D models.

“To ship a boiler (up north) just to show them one piece of the boiler is definitely not feasible,” Ducharme said. “We can scan that section, clean it up and actually deliver a class or a lesson based off of this one item.”

Teachers will integrate augmented reality into their curricula, Ducharme said.

“We can actually scan a room here in Winnipeg, and we can have (students) up in their camp or hotel room, and they’re able to circle which switches or which bolts they’re going to disconnect,” he said.

A Winnipeg-based instructor can monitor and correct students as they’re touching their screens.

Classes from the Hutchings Street site will be broadcast using special software, Ducharme said. The pandemic changed education, and these teaching methods are new for Manitoba’s piping industry, he added.

The $15 million facility will run in-person classes during weekdays, evenings and weekends once construction finishes.

Currently, the union offers programming virtually or through its location at 34 Higgins Ave. (which it will sell once the new building opens). Over the past year, it conducted about 2,200 courses, including safety training and upgrades for tradespeople. It’ll expand its offerings with the new site, Ducharme said.

The Hutchings Street building, which is three times the size ofthe Higgins location, will have a mechanical room, a welding shop, a yard for pipeline training and a “wet room” where students can set off sprinkler heads.

“We have essentially… a house inside the building, and from there we can do all our plumbing,” Ducharme said, adding students can excavate to bury pipes.

Classrooms will sometimes house Seven Oaks School Division high schoolers looking to enter the trades. The site may take Red River College Polytechnic students if the post-secondary body has overflowing programs, Ducharme said.

“I know our union in particular has been crazy busy (during the pandemic),” he said, adding that up to 400 people travelled to Manitoba for work in the industry.

Most have since gone home, he said.

Aaron Grapko, owner of Grapko’s Welding, has been in the industry for 36 years.

“It’s tough to find skilled people,” he said. “There aren’t enough facilities that really provide practice time.”

Manitoba is behind in the number of trades programs offered compared to its western neighbours, Grapko said. He’s hired from Alberta and the prairies.

“I’m glad there’s more education and more opportunities to get more people in the field,” he said.

But, some graduates don’t have necessary skills, Grapko said. Video simulators are likely “good up to a point,” he said, adding one-on-one mentorship is the best teaching.

“You’re going to have a mix of turnout and abilities, but I personally question the quality of it across the board,” he said.

The union has been sitting on the Hutchings Street land for six years while it fundraises, Ducharme said. Union members and the federal government are among those to open their purse strings.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com