Providing Opportunities for Meaningful Careers in Welding

ESAB supports Ore Projects’ mission to empower marginalized individuals with hands-on skills and career pathways in metalworking. 

Just as refining iron ore is essential for the world’s iron and steel industries, unearthing human potential is necessary to sustain its metal fabrication industries. Enter Daniela Rubino and Lauren Wilson, who co-founded Ore Projects in Hertfordshire, UK, about 45 km north of London.

Ore Projects is a mentoring scheme that equips young people with hands-on metal fabrication skills and provides pathways into careers in the trades, metalworking, and creative industries. Supported by Arts Council England, The Goldsmiths Centre and East Herts Council, the classes are free for individuals aged 16 to 25 and are especially inclusive of women and underrepresented communities.

To help make classes free of ancillary charges, manufacturers have donated equipment and materials, including ESAB which has donated Sentinel™ and Savage welding helmets, flame resistant welding jackets and trousers, WeldOps safety goggles, a Rebel™ EMP 320ic for MIG, Stick and Lift-TIG welding and a Cutmaster^® 30+ manual plasma cutter.

“We take our jobs as role models in metalworking seriously. Our features on national news and collaborations with international brands like ESAB will normalize women working in the industry and create fairer opportunities for all,” says Rubino. “For women, walking into a male-dominated workshop can be daunting, so having a safe space for them is important.”

“Many of the young adults we work with struggle with academia, which can lead to unemployment,” adds Wilson. “There’s a shortage of tradespeople, and we’re bridging that gap—creating opportunities for people to pursue a career they love.”

Trades in Demand.

There are over 141,000 job vacancies in the UK’s trade sector, and a further 937,000 new workers will be needed by 2032 to meet demand. However, student entry rates for the Design & Technology GCSE qualification have dropped by half in the last decade (General Certificate of Secondary Education is a set of qualifications usually used for students ages 15-16 in the UK). Ore Projects formed in 2022 to fill this gap. Their in-person classes have already impacted 360 students, while another 40,000 people have been reached globally through their social media channels and website.

Rubino and Wilson work in partnership with schools that have students at risk of becoming NEET — Not in Education, Employment or Training — which allows them to experiment with routes into careers through hands-on, high-quality learning. They also work with Clu, a platform for unlocking skills and building a smarter workforce.

Finding a Way.

Rubino and Wilson were both fortunate enough to attend university, which they did at Central Saint Martins and Slade School of Fine Art, respectively. However, both felt a little lost after graduation, and they faced common challenges in navigating careers in creative industry, specifically sculpture and metal fabrication.

“We have two amazing dads — mine is a carpenter and Lauren’s is an engineer — that showed us what technical careers could be like,” says Rubino. “They fully supported our career decision, but a lot of young adults don’t have that. Unless you have someone in your family you can learn from, it is quite difficult to get into the trade. Ore Projects offers a taste of the industry and then guidance about how a student might further their effort, such as with work placement or an apprenticeship.”

“Other continuing education options can be expensive or are not accessible,” adds Rubino. She cites a young lady who came to their Women’s Week Intense Course who worked for an artist studio in the textiles department. “She asked if she could go to the fabrication studio to learn and watch, but they wouldn’t let her go near it. She came to us to get confidence and TIG welding skills, and she was brilliant. Now she could go back and say, “Look, I gained experience. Would you now let me have a go?’”

Rubino and Wilson have both fought their way through the “boy’s club” work environment, including sexist calendars, inappropriate comments and harassment.

“Our workshops foster an environment that actively makes women and marginalized communities feel comfortable,” says Wilson. “We’ll never get the percentage of women in metalworking above its current 15.7% if we don’t create welcoming spaces.”

A female attendee of a recent workshop expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to be included in the welding space. She wrote, “The environment you have created at Ore Projects is truly special. As you know, it’s very rare to find a space that feels so safe and free of judgement, and it really made a difference for me, as I admittedly struggle with fitting-in.”

Providing better access into welding for under-represented and at-risk groups were two primary drivers for the Ore Projects. A third component is helping young adults with additional needs. In partnership with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) schools and colleges in the UK, Rubino and Wilson tailor workshops to improve self-esteem and encourage students to discover their capabilities through alternative outlets otherwise inaccessible to them.

For example, Harlow Fields School, a SEND school in Harlow, wanted to design and make a library trolley to make shared books easily accessible between its classrooms. Ore met the school’s request over 12 weeks, two times a week, teaching 12 young adults.

“They are achieving something great,” says Wilson. “A lot of the students are very good at welding because they’re good at following instructions and repeating things. In our experience, the students are capable, enjoy the process, and feel positive about the experience. Our society needs to stop suppressing the ambitions of SEND students by recognising and removing current barriers ”

Equipment Commitment.

One of the courses Ore Projects run regularly is making a bench, which enables students to learn about safety, equipment, CAD design, how to make a cut list and then MIG, Stick or TIG welding to build the bench. Other projects could be something simple like a pencil tin or needs-specific items, such as book trolley for sharing books between classrooms. When it came to choosing welding equipment for these projects, Rubino and Wilson contacted ESAB as a result of their positive experience with the Sentinel helmet.

“Outside of running this scheme, we run a metal fabrication business called Rubino Wilson. We make sculpture and furniture for artists and designers,” says Wilson. “We both had the Sentinel shield, and it was a game changer. I had always seen a green arc, where ESAB’s true color technology lets me better distinguish between the arc and the puddle. That part was amazing, but just the ergonomics are great. It’s light on your head and has a lower profile. We used to work in a small space. You’d set your things up to weld and then end up knocking them over with your shield.”

Rubino says that “ESAB’s safety and professional values align with ours. Their social media posts follow correct safety precautions. They make welding fun and cool without being macho.”

For student use, ESAB provided Ore Projects with Savage helmets, which offer a leading combination of performance and value, including four-sensors (important for out-of-position work), true color performance, a “Grind Mode” button for a fixed shade 4 and a 100 x 50 mm viewing area with adjust shade 8-13.

“Students wear the ESAB helmets, are head-to-toe in ESAB PPE, and weld with ESAB equipment filler metals,” says Wilson. “The students look and feel safe and professional.”

Rebel for Training.

The Rebel EMP 320ic multiprocess MIG/MAG, Stick and TIG welder is a core piece of kit that makes students feel that they are learning as a professional would learn because it is a machine designed for production welding. It has a rated output of 320 amps at 40 percent duty cycle at 320 amps and is capable of running 0.8 to 1.4 mm wires.

Ore Projects reports that the wide output range accommodates sheet metal projects as well as heavy duty work and that the arc is smooth and stable at both ends of the scale, which reduces training time. Rebel has strong appeal for training welders, whether in classroom or on the job. Rebel has two operating modes, Basic and Advanced, that make welding easy for beginners or lets those with more experience fine tune parameters. Operators interact with the Rebel using a digital control panel that combines traditional weld parameter adjustments with the functionality of a smart phone. In fact, the color display uses the same technology found in smart phones. However, the game-changing technology to teaching welding is ESAB’s sMIG, or smart MIG, feature. sMIG takes away the guesswork of setting parameters, then it monitors the operator’s technique and continuously adapts the MIG output to provide a stable arc.

“Having the adaptability of those settings is great because you can teach someone to set up almost instantly — and that builds confidence — or you can have the option to go through the advanced settings and learn about fine-tuning the arc and troubleshooting,” says Wilson. “Smart MIG is also really good for the classes because it gives you correct settings for the right penetration and a good, strong weld.”

Creative Expression.

Where welding is a thoughtful and precise activity, “plasma cutting with the Cutmaster 30+ provides the opportunity to do something a bit more creative,” says Rubino. Artists favour the plasma process because they can free-hand cut organic lines or any shape their mind can imagine. By using a template, they can cut repeatable geometric shapes, which is a common theme in art referred to as tessellation patterns. 

“Creativity ignites excitement in young people because they are doing something personalized,” says Wilson. “Learning to weld sometimes feels like you’re doing drills. The Cutmaster plasma cutter gives more flexibility. It allows students to customize their projects.”

She notes that 52% of art graduates work and apply their skills outside the arts, adding value in industries across the economy. Also, many metalworking professionals have side businesses as artists precisely because it gives them creative outlet. The Cutmaster 30+ is ideally suited for both artistic and professional work because it has the power to cut 12 mm metal yet offers portability because it weighs just 11.5 kg and uses 110-240V mains power. Like Rebel, it features a large LCD interface and controls that make set-up and use easy.

“Without ESAB, we would not be able to provide this kind of professional equipment,” says Rubino. “I genuinely believe that the project is successful as a result of their support.”

Willingness and Responsibility Equals Hope.

Wilson and Rubino project they will teach 660 students over the next three years. There are currently 18 institutions and 182 local people on their waiting list.

“We will also provide work experience, monthly open days and teachers insets for a further 900 individuals,” says Rubino. “The scheme will diversify digital resources in collaboration with industry expert mentors.”

During INSET (in-service training) days, teachers can engage in professional development and take the welding training and knowledge back to their students. The website has 30 international contributors to the scheme’s career resources and three expert tutors who also facilitate workshops. 

“We have a big network of other fabricators and friends in the creative space, and there’s definitely a willingness to get involved,” says Wilson. “Ultimately, Daniella and I run this project, but it’s the responsibility of big companies, corporations and government to make it more accessible. We are hopeful that we can continue to shape the future of welding in a positive manner.”