Maritime Welding

Playbook

The Challenge

The Navy is completely transforming its nuclear-powered submarine fleet and needs an influx of skilled trades workers to build and maintain its critical undersea advantage.

This requires the addition of 100,000+ skilled workers with the training and commitment to ensure success. Project MFG partners with many groups dedicated to increasing our naval advantage. 

Project MFG’s Maritime Welding Competitions focus on industry needs and invites high-school students to participate in welding competitions to prove their skills, help industries identify skilled workers, and expose students to the many job opportunities available to them in the maritime industry.

The Project MFG Maritime Welding Competition is a welding and fabrication skills challenge designed to test a student’s understanding of blueprints, weld procedure sheets, welding techniques, and fabrication skills. 

Project MFG Maritime Welding Competitions challenge students to assemble a competition project using current industry requirements and practices. Competitors must follow Project MFG’s supplied technical documents to construct their project within a specified time-frame and to industry standards. 

The first-place winners of the individual regional  Maritime Welding competitions will be invited to compete in the National Maritime Welding Championship competition that takes place in the Spring of 2025.

Win Scholarships
& Prizes!

THE COMPETITION FRAMEWORK

Maritime Welding Competition Framework

The Project MFG Maritime Competition is a welding and fabrication skills challenge designed to test a student’s understanding of blueprints, weld procedure sheets, welding techniques, and fabrication skills. Students are challenged in an environment that mimics the expectations of the workforce, enabling them to demonstrate the skills necessary to be successful in industry. Students of all levels of welding and fabrication experience are encouraged to compete in the Maritime Competition. 

Students are tested against current industry requirements to assemble a competition project. Competitors must follow Project MFG’s supplied technical documents to construct their project within a specified time-frame and to industry standards. 

Winners of the regional Maritime Welding competitions will be invited to compete in the National Maritime “Clash of Trades” competition.

Safety

Competitors must adhere to the safety requirements of their respective school or location. A list of the minimum safety requirements is provided below. Should any safety questions arise or issues encountered, stop work and seek further guidance from your instructor, site supervisor, or competition coordinator.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):

  • Appropriate shop attire and PPE must be worn by all competition participants, as well as, anyone on the shop floor. This includes closed-toe shoes, a long-sleeved shirt, and long pants. 
  • Wrist, hand jewelry, and any loose neck jewelry or loose clothing are not allowed. 
  • Long hair must be adequately restrained around rotating machinery.
  • Hearing protection and a face shield must be worn when using offhand grinding machines or angle grinders.
  • Any person not properly equipped with PPE may not enter the competition area. They must move to designated public areas and are not permitted to enter the competition area.

Working Areas:

  • All offhand grinding must be done in the welding bays with the shields closed.
  • Welding gloves and a welding helmet must be worn when welding in the welding bay.
  • When welding, the welding bay must be fully closed.
  • Anyone not equipped with the proper PPE may not enter the facility and are not permitted to enter the competition area.

Competition Rules

General Rules:

  • To participate, each Competitor must complete the required waivers and releases. 
  • Scores are calculated based on the scoring scheme outlined in this document with specific details provided at the competition.
  • Competitors are to be ranked on competition performance from best performance (highest overall score) to worst performance (lowest overall score).
  • Project MFG leadership reserves the right to remove anyone from the competition for, but not limited to, unprofessional behavior, cheating, etc. 
  • Project MFG leadership reserves the right to alter events and/or rules prior to, or during the competition and makes best efforts to notify all members of any changes.
  • Instructors are NOT allowed in the competition areas and are NOT allowed to talk about the project with the student during the competition.

Competitor Requirements:

  • Each competition has technically qualified individuals.
  • There is no age requirement.
  • Current students of a trade training program or high school  

Disqualification:

  • If a Competitor is determined to be using unsafe practices that could cause harm to themselves, others, or the equipment, they may be disqualified.
  • Violation of any rule may result in disqualification from the competition.

Project MFG reserves final authority for all rulings and rules interpretations.

Performance Evaluation

Project MFG competitions are industry recognized skills assessments. Preparing for and competing in these competitions provide practical experience that help competitors succeed in trade industry jobs.

Scoring Scheme:

The scoring scheme ties the competition project assessment to industry standards. Competitors earn points on their project based on their performance against the project requirements. Each competition round (project) is scored individually.

The scoring scheme will use a 1 to 10 point scale to score each measurable attribute identified in the project.

Competition Scoring:

A panel of judges will evaluate each competitor’s project against the project requirements.  Judges are consistent for all teams and/or individuals competing.

Project MFG reserves final authority for all rulings and rules interpretations.

Download the Sponsorship Deck