Quick Overview:
November in review
The Qualifying Rounds are Wrapping Up!
The 2025–2026 competition season is in full swing! Our National Welding League and Advanced Manufacturing Series competitions have just wrapped up their qualifying round projects.
For our National Welding League competitors, the challenge was to weld a replica model of the Coronado Bay Bridge in San Diego, California. With the first qualifying round complete, all competitors who submitted their completion photos are automatically advancing to the second round and should expect their next project kit soon!
Meanwhile, our Advanced Manufacturing Series teams tackled a complex challenge: machining parts for a robotic arm, including a valve body, inner and outer grippers, and a 3D-printed frame. Now that the qualifying round has concluded, our judges, in partnership with Zeiss Metrology, will carefully measure, score, and evaluate the projects to determine the top 16 teams moving on to the Regional Rounds.
Exciting times are ahead as the season heats up… Stay tuned to see who rises to the top!
Competition Updates
Youth Welding Challenge
HOSTED AT WELD LIKE A GIRL YUMA, ARIZONA
On November 5–6, Project MFG teamed up with Weld Like a Girl for the 4th Annual Youth Welding Challenge and Discovery Event in Yuma, Arizona! Over two action-packed days, 22 homeschooled students from around the area rolled up their sleeves and jumped into a hands-on experience designed to spark creativity, confidence, and curiosity for the skilled trades.
Additive Manufacturing
HOSTED AT THE TEXAS A&M ENGINEERING & EXPERIMENT STATION IN BRYAN, TEXAS
On Wednesday, November 12, 2025, Project MFG kicked off the first of three additive manufacturing competitions starting at Texas A&M University, bringing together seven talented high school and college-level teams from across the state. The event offered students a hands-on opportunity to apply advanced manufacturing skills in a fast-paced, real-world challenge.
SEC Machining
HOSTED AT THE TEXAS A&M ENGINEERING & EXPERIMENT STATION IN BRYAN, TEXAS
On November 13–14, 2025, four Southeastern Conference (SEC) universities gathered for the annual Project MFG SEC Machining Competition. Over the course of two days, collegiate teams demonstrated their skills in CNC programming, precision machining, and advanced manufacturing technologies as they competed for top honors and program bragging rights.
Instructor Resources
Check out offers and discounts provided by our sponsors and partners for instructors and schools.
Meet the Makers: Students Turning Passion into Purpose
Meet The Makers: Logan Bathrick
Every year, students across the country step into a Project MFG event not knowing what to expect and walk out with a new skill, a new passion, or a new direction for their future. Our new series, Meet the Makers: Students Turning Passion into Purpose, celebrates those stories and the young talent shaping the next generation of the trades. To start things off, we’re highlighting Logan Bathrick, an 18-year-old from Yuma, Arizona, whose first Project MFG welding challenge helped ignite a career path he never saw coming.
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For Companies who want to make a difference for the skilled trades community, please consider becoming a Project MFG sponsor!
Project MFG Celebrates Hawaii’s Top Welding Talent at Statewide Award Ceremony
On November 7, 2025, Project MFG hosted an award ceremony at Pacific Shipyards International (PSI) in Honolulu, recognizing top participants from a statewide welding competition that celebrated technical skill, creativity, and career readiness.
In early October, 27 high-school students from across Hawaii received welding kits and detailed instructions to fabricate a model of the F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Fighter Jet. After completing their projects, instructors selected the top two students from each school to advance as finalists. Those finalists were then invited to bring their completed projects to an in-person event at PSI, where the top 14 were evaluated by a panel of esteemed judges.