Page 19 - HIWT Fall 2013 World of Welding
P. 19
hiwt@welding.org HOBART INSTITUTE OF WELDING TECHNOLOGY
WELDING STUDENTS BRING JOY TO RIDERS ON BIKE
PATH IN MASSACHUSETTS
%\ 1HLO 0DQV¿HOG $:6 &:, &:(
The Tour de France bicycle race is well underway this summer
with international fans along the road side cheering the cyclists
on as they pass through one beautiful small town after another
in France. On a more creative scale, welding students back
at Assabet Valley Technical High School in Marlborough
Massachusetts, under the supervision of instructors George
Aziz, Chris Wittimer, and me, were creating bicycle metal
art using welding and creative designs to make the Hudson,
Massachusetts bike path a cheerful pace to pedal and have fun.
Once, long ago, the railroad was the choice of travel in our
country. Now, those old abandoned railroad tracks are being
transformed into public bike paths, walking paths, and once
again being used as a way to get citizens from one point
to another, whether commuting on bicycle, jogging for a 6WXGHQWV ZHOG RQ ROG IDVKLRQ³KLJK ZKHHOHU´ ELF\FOH D W\SH WKDW
workout, or just casual family fun activities shared together. ZDV SRSXODU LQ WKH ¶V
0DQ\ WRZQ RI¿FLDOV DUH VHHNLQJ ORFDO WHFKQLFDO VFKRROV WR
enhance their public paths with welded metal sculptures.
It seems that students are quite creative when you give them
an opportunity to build something out of metal. Welding and
its required technique is certainly a form of art, so it doesn’t
VXUSULVH XV WR ¿QG \RXQJ ZHOGLQJ VWXGHQWV IURP DURXQG WKH
world transferring their technical skills into another medium
of art. It just happens to be bicycle art that Assabet Valley
students set their minds to do this year.
It all started with our school Principal Mr. Mark Hollick, who Introducing the
is a Hudson, Massachusetts resident and uses the bike path WP-280 Water-Cooled TIG Torch!
ZLWK KLV IDPLO\ 6HYHUDO WRZQ RI¿FLDOV DVN KLP LI WKH ZHOGLQJ
students would be interested in making some brackets to
mount several wooden sculptures to be displayed along the The water-cooled
bike path. As this project developed and citizens of Hudson solution for demanding
HQMR\HG WKH VFXOSWXUHV WRZQ RI¿FLDOV WKHQ DVNHG LI $VVDEHW¶V applications
students in the metal fabrication program could design and ™
weld a bike path sculpture. Well, it does not take much to get technology
a welding student to volunteer their time and engaged their
creative talents! They decided to make a modern abstract
racer hunched over their racing bike…and then an old-
fashion, traditional big wheel bicycle. As the pieces of art control and comfort
were mounted side by side onto concrete pads, citizens could
see both old and new design evolution. Bronze plaques were
PDGH E\ WKH VWXGHQWV UHÀHFWLQJ QDPHV RI WKH VWXGHQWV ZKR Weldcraft.com
created the works of art.
Phone: 1.920.882.6800
&RQWLQXHG RQ SDJH Toll-free: 1.800.752.7620
19