MCG welders take top honors

Scott Braun and Troy Jaeger at Manitowoc Crane Group won the grand prize and the second prize in the American Welding Society's Second Professional Welder Competition at the Fabtech International & AWS Welding Show in Chicago, November 14-16.

Braun won $2,500 and Jaeger won $1,000 while the third place prize of $500 was awarded to Anh H. Nguyen of Louisville, KY, an advanced welder at Kentucky Trailer Services.

The competition attracted 133 participants and involved welding an I-beam to a vertical plate, simulating a beam-to-column weld in the construction of a building. The participants had five minutes to complete the task. Their work was judged on the weld's size and appearance.