REASON FOR THE PROJECT: The idea for this project arises from the fact that there is a lack of training materials and qualified personnel for the Friction Stir Welding (FSW) technology. FSW technologies have a worldwide diffusion in several industrial sectors. For high-value applications, where high performance joint properties are required, FSW has been widely adopted in aluminium fabrication. This is evidenced by the aerospace sector, where higher strength grades of aluminium alloy allow for significant weight savings to be achieved. By 2010-2020, North America and Europe expect to raise their aluminium consumption by 61% (approximately 8m tonnes / 6year extra). This increased consumption has also been reflected in the aluminium welding equipment market, which accounted for over €800 million in 2009, with a large portion of it being the innovative FSW equipment. (Freas, 2011). FSW has also increasingly been applied by steel companies for metal cutting, metal forming and polymer processing, allowing significant cost savings when constructing large structures. According to SME Associations Research (Flexifab project,2013), the industrial need of European metal workers is related to 3 main factors: welders stop working before retirement age; skills shortage (there is a shortfall of 150,000 welders in Europe); and issues related to welding aluminum structures (due to skills shortage, weld defects are more prone to occur). Attending to the growth in FSW use and the evident need for metal qualified personnel in Europe, VET Providers will have to carry on fostering lifelong learning through FSW continuous training. Hence, Welding education and training for technicians, practitioners and welders must include FSW learning modules in their basic programmes. New contents and activities must also be developed, to ensure the updating of skills in the industry. Likewise, universities should include FSW units in their master's degrees to guarantee a comprehensive approach for advanced profiles (engineers and specialists). Currently, the baseline situation for VET qualifications for FSW personnel is limited and dispersed. In addition, it is estimated that at least 20% from the 20.000 professionals which per year attend EWF Courses/Qualification for Welding Personnel, will need an upgrading on aluminium. The involvement of universities regarding FSW is mostly linked to scientific activities, research and technology innovation. Thus, there is not a systematic neither proper FSW pedagogical strategy prepared to meet the market needs. In this context, the FSW-TECH project is now created. AIMS & OBJECTIVES: The project aims at avoiding the skills mismatch of the employers of companies involved in FSW manufacturing processes. This will be done by developing an harmonised training course of personnel involved in this activities, focusing not only in large enterprises but also in SMEs in different European countries, and to create the European Friction Stir Welding Operator (EFSW-O), Specialist (EFSW-S) and Engineer (EFSW-E) Profiles. This objective will be achieved through the definition of educational materials for the training of personnel. CONSORTIUM: The consortium is constituted by 5 partners. VÚZ - PI SR will act as Project Coordinator, in direct contact with the National Agency from Slovakia. EWF with a Training and Qualification network covering 30 member countries that will be essential in the implementation and dissemination of FSW-TECH results. The remaining partners are the welding institutes of Slovenia (IZV), Portugal (ISQ) and Romania (ASR), which have strong knowledge and expertise in training and qualification at a sector-based level. All partners also have plenty of experience in the implementation and training of European Qualification profiles. OUTCOMES: The objectives will be achieved through the definition of a harmonised curriculum for the training of personnel involved in the FSW in the industry. For this purpose, at the start of the project, a study will be carried out in order to understand the specific requirements in terms of qualifications in different countries and industries, where welding plays an important role. This will allow the development of an harmonised European training curriculum. IMPACT: The project will have a significant impact at local, regional, national and European level, because it will address 3 professional profiles that cover a market need, as there is a lack of training materials and qualified personnel on FSW technologies in Europe. The impact of the results of this project extend beyond the project duration, due to the exploitation EWF intends to do, based on its 30 Member countries network. Also, the European level will boost FSW-TECH's added value as it will facilitate the transfer of the profiles to other countries outside the project consortium.
FSW-TECH project tackled shortage of training materials and skilled workers for friction welding technology (FSW), which is increasingly being used by steel companies. The main aim of the project was to prepare an educational programme addressing three levels of qualification: operators, specialists and engineers, as well as development of the associated teaching materials and supporting guidelines for implementing the courses in the framework of lifelong learning. The project was implemented by a consortium of 5 entities from 5 EU countries - SR, RO, SLO, PT and BE (the partner from Belgium is a global organization based in BE but operating from one of its headquarters in Portugal). Cooperation of the partners was at the highest level, all partners participated in the preparation of IO, multiplier events, dissemination activities, etc. The project achieved all the initially planned intellectual outputs and activities. 5 transnational meetings were organized. All project outputs are also available on the project website (www.fsw-tech.eu/documents.html). Attendance lists and certificates from multiplication events and learning activity are attached to this final report. IO1 – Report on the state of art of FSW Training Courses and identification of skills needs in the sector, that resulted from the application of a dedicated survey in the partners countries and EWF international network. The report was translated from English to SK, SLO, PT and RO. IO2 – European Curricula for EWF Operator, Specialist and Engineer. Curricula for the three levels were developed. A short version was prepared and translated to partners languages. Examination Database was created for all three levels (in all partners languages), with levels of difficulty in line with the EQF level assigned to the qualification. IO3 – National curriculum adaptation and translation – training materials for all three levels in the form of handbooks and presentations have been prepared. One handbook dedicated to the operator for self-study, and one handbook for the specialist and engineer. The presentations to be using during the training sessions were also developed: six presentations for the operator and 2 presentations for the specialist and engineer. Documents prepared under IO2 and IO3 are considered as one whole and therefore translation of the guidelis you can find in IO2 instead of IO3. All presentations were initially prepared and finalised in English and translated to SK, SLO, RO, PT. IO3 is freely available, in the form of a handbook and presentations, at the project website. IO4 - National Implementation Guideline for the EFSW-O; EFSW-S and EFSW-E Profiles curricula - final version of the report was based on reports from individual partners from their Hands-on approach seminars in PT, SK and RO - indications on how to conduct training sessions and recommendations for future training providers was made and translated to partner languages. IO5 – European Recommendations – the aim was to support the implementation of the mentioned qualifications in other VET systems with all the steps that needs to be followed in order to successfully implement these courses in other EU countries, assuring the sustainability of the mentioned results. IO6 – Operational ECVET kit – to support the recognition of students achieved learning outcomes either at national level or trough mobility across European countries. The operational kit is accompanied by the several tools: Memorandum of Understanding, Learning Agreement and Personal Transcript. The allocation of ECVET points to individual learning outcomes is reflected in the document “Guideline for operationalization of EFSW-O/S/E LOs Qualifications according to ECVET”. Multiplier Events – were organised in SK, RO and PT - 3 Hands on approach seminars and Final Conference. More than 120 participants were reached. The overall feedback was very positive. Impact: Project partners are members of the European Welding Federation. Project has created a guideline that can be applied across Europe. All FSW-TECH outputs will be offered by EWF to its members, assuring the sustainability of the project results. Dissemination of FSW-TECH activities and results has been carried out in all partner countries. All dissemination materials (flyer, poster and roll-up) were made available in the project website. Partners published articles in professional journals, project was promoted at national and international conferences. The results of the project were presented at multiplier events, information was sent to relevant ministries and educational institutions. Companies were approached as potential users of the project results. At the end of the project a dissemination e-portfolio was created gathering all the dissemination activities performed.