VGCC Student Passes National Pipe Welding Certification
Ervin Lee Crews of Kittrell had studied some pipe welding, but he thought he needed additional instruction and experience in order to move farther ahead in his trade.
So he entered Vance-Granville Community College and studied pipe welding under Wilbur Slaughter while continuing to work full-time at Crane Industries in Raleigh. That training paid off when Crews passed the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Welder Qualification Test in March and became a nationally-certified pipe welder.
The pipe-welding test is considered more difficult than the structural code certification test, which involves mostly plate welding. Slaughter administered the test at Vance-Granville, and it was sent to Professional Service Industries Inc. in Greensboro for the inspection that led to Crews gaining certification.
Crews is now certified to perform pipe welding anywhere in the United States.
Slaughter said that, in his 30 years of teaching welding at VGCC, Ervin Crews is one of only 25 students who has successfully completed the pipe-welding certification exam.
“Ervin Crews is a very dedicated student who worked full-time during the day and attended classes at night in order to finally complete the requirements and become eligible for testing,” Slaughter said. “At first, he found the work difficult, but he stuck with it and succeeded.”
Passing the test will certainly give Crews more opportunity for job advancement and better pay, Slaughter added.
Since completing the pipe welding, Crews is currently enrolled in TIG welding at Vance-Granville Community College to enhance his plate-welding skills.
Ervin Crews is a native of Franklinton. He is married to the former Monica Crews, a former assistant principal at Carver Elementary School in Vance County and currently is principal at Jones Dairy School in Wake County. They have a son and a daughter.
Above, Ervin L. Crews of Kittrell looks over the test results of his successful certifying exam in pipe welding achieved as a result of his studies at Vance-Granville Community College.
