Miguel Carrillo, welding instructor at UTI Rancho Cucamonga, has quite the résumé. He’s constantly working to improve his craft and has earned an extensive list of certifications and awards.

He loves everything about welding and working with metals. Details like how a weld looks and feels once it’s cooled intrigues him. He also loves the fact that he can support his family with his income. “It’s a good field,” Miguel says. Miguel also notes the lack of welders and how baby boomers have retired or will be retiring, leaving vacancies in much-needed welding positions.

Miguel’s best weld technique is TIG. He smiles as he talks about his experience working on helicopters, jets and commercial airliners. He’s proud that his welds hold up to X-ray testing not only because they take a lot of time and attentiveness but also because he knows people are safe because of them. He says that his carefulness and the uniformity of his work have all been necessary to his success.

Students at UTI learn a wide range of welding skills and techniques — MIG, Flux-Cored, TIG and Pipe. This also includes oxy-fuel welding, cutting, brazing, soldering, and plasma arc cutting (PAC). Miguel loves to help students and sees himself in many of them. He remembers back to when he was learning the process. He was impatient - maybe even a bit arrogant, back when he thought his first weld would be the best. The process of learning made him realize he needed to put a lot of time into perfecting the art of both welding and patience, and he’s never stopped working on his craft.

Students are eager to jump in and start welding, but they first have to learn how to do all the safety related tasks because welding can be dangerous. Miguel loves to help them learn. “I can see their faces light up” when they get something, he says. He prefers to help them in the learning environment of UTI’s program so that when they go into the real world it’s not quite as difficult to learn and adapt.