The welding engineer of the future will not look like the welding engineer of today for sure. Research skill and process automation will be the two additional pillars of relevance. Everything else will collapse under the weight of artificial intelligence.

Very soon, AI systems will scan every applicable code and standard and deliver the best welding practice in minutes. Remember that these standards are products of research. Feed them into an AI engine, ask it to generate WPS and PQR from existing records, and it will do it. At that point anyone can push the button. The line between welding engineer, welding inspector and welder will fade. To stay relevant you must become all three in one body.

AI will also learn from qualification tests. Every pass and fail parameter will become training data. Your value will shift to research, data collection, analysis, interpretation and the authority to approve and release this knowledge into the AI system as a trusted source.

If AI can write the bid for you, if it can implement ISO 3834 at project and component level, if advanced snake robots can carry out the weld after scanning the joint, then what is left for you?

You will need to know how to operate and program the robots. You will need to oversee the data fed into the system. You will need to ensure the integrity of the knowledge base. You will not waste time searching through standards. AI will tell you what it used, why it used it, and which part of ASME IX or any other code applies.

This is the future – Research. Data mastery. Automation. Robotics.
If you are not ready to press the buttons and command the system, you will be replaced by the system.

Future thought @VCI

Read Future Welding Engineers Beyond 2030

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