Isaias Pena stood out as a high school student when participating in welding competitions held at the Texas State Technical College campus in Harlingen. 

Pena represented La Joya High School and TSTC instructor Raul Saldivar recalls a student who was always a top three finisher in the SkillsUSA welding competitions. Pena’s attention to detail and the ability to visualize demonstrations and apply them to practical applications has always been evident, Saldivar said.

“He’s a very capable and determined student,” he said in referencing Pena, who is currently enrolled in TSTC’s comprehensive welding program in Harlingen. 

The first-year welding student has already established a stellar reputation at TSTC and has done so while meeting the challenge of a rare genetic muscle disorder that requires him to use a wheelchair. Saldivar says it’s a first for him as an instructor to have a student with such a disability but says Pena doesn’t see his situation as an obstacle.

“Isaias finds a way,” Saldivar said.  “He can excel in any field of welding or in fabricating.”

Fabrication is a multi-step process of building metal structures from raw materials, using welding as a key joining technique. It requires skills and techniques beyond simple welding in requiring extensive planning and precision. Pena makes clear that he is preparing himself to ensure his welds meet complex industry needs. His disability will not deter him.

“I power through it because I want to become a great welder,” he said in a TSTC news release.

Filling Big Gaps

The welding field as a profession is growing and the need for welders will only increase in the coming years as more Baby Boomer-era workers retire.

The retirements will result in a huge skills gap with one estimate being that over 300,000 new professionals in the welding field are needed by 2029. In the Rio Grande Valley, Saldivar says industrial partners allied with TSTC’s welding program – like SpaceX – actively recruit students at the Harlingen college. He mentioned that 12 TSTC students during the spring semester are participating in a SpaceX internship program at Starbase in gauging their skills and potential for future permanent employment.

Another Brownsville-area development is the construction of LNG plants at the city’s port. A large industrial construction company like Houston-based Bechtel is looking for welders to help build large infrastructure projects like the LNG plants at the Port of Brownsville. Pena and other students have these sorts of opportunities ahead as they seek to earn associate degrees at TSTC and gain certificates in structural pipe and robotic welding techniques.

Pena’s instructors say he has transitioned well to the college’s performance-based educational model that requires more advanced welding skills in cutting materials at correct angles. The precision needed for advanced welding angles presents a steep learning curve, but it’s a test Pena readily accepts.

“Overhead and vertical welding were challenging at first, but I got better at it,” he said.

‘See Ourselves In Students’

Saldivar, the TSTC instructor, sees the TSTC welding program as a bridge from the students-in-training to the industry partners like SpaceX and Bechtel that frequently recruit at the college. 

Nearly all of the instructors in the welding program were TSTC students themselves years ago and worked at some of the industrial companies that often hire the college’s students. 

“We see ourselves in our students,” Saldivar said. “We understand how it is to be a student here and go out in the field and maybe be a bit nervous at first. We know those real-life scenarios.”

Putting that realism into classrooms and labs means creating workplace situations where welders work today, including operating in tight spots and difficult positions. In doing so, the companies that hire TSTC-educated students know the quality of students they are hiring will most likely meet industry standards. 

“Quality over quantity” is how Saldivar describes it, and he knows Pena is one of those exceptional students is TSTC is known to develop and train. 

“He has an energy about him,” Saldivar said. “Isaias interacts and connects with other students at all levels.”

And, the instructor adds, “he dominates every welding process.”