Students from 10 high schools in two states converged at Lehigh Career and Technical Institute recently for a regional American Welding Society competition.

Two competitors from each school were challenged to use a variety of welding and thermal cutting methods as they constructed an item from scratch based on provided blueprints, a news release states.

Organized by the society’s Lehigh Valley Section, the annual daylong competition is in its 53rd year.

LCTI student participants included: Jacob Dean, a student at Louis E. Dieruff High School, Allentown and Sydney Lombo, a student at Salisbury High School.

This is LCTI’s first time hosting the competition at its Welding Technology Center.

The 12,000-square-foot center features 40 welding booths and 10 workstations, so 50 students can weld simultaneously.

Brad Brandmeir, a welding technology teacher at LCTI and the AWS Lehigh Valley Section chairperson, is hopeful the competition will return to the school in 2025.

The Welding Technology Center’s size and central location make it an ideal event site, he said.

Competition results were announced during an awards banquet featuring remarks from Michael A. Krupnicki, the American Welding Society president, Brandmeir said.