Miller Electric

Nominated by Annie Offenbacher

My Hero

Carl has sacrificed a lot for his family. It’s not easy being away from home, especially in a war zone. He is my personal hero and an inspiration to all. If there’s anyone worthy of recognition, it’s my Dad.

Making a Difference

Carl has an AS degree in Industrial Welding Technology from Rogue Community College. He worked for the State of Oregon Fish and Wildlife as a welder fabricator building and installing fish screening systems and passage. Next he went overseas with VSE Corporation in Kuwait for 6 months repairing and modernizing Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles including the Force Protection Buffalo and Cougar blast resistant vehicles. He is now at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. The base regularly comes under rocket and mortar fire.

Welding Application

His job in Afghanistan is to install an upgraded suspension system on the Cougar vehicles and modernize the interior and gunner turrets. He does battle damage repair, works very closely with the troops and does what he can to keep them safe and ready for battle.

Miller on the Job

Force Protection is proud to use Miller Big 40 diesel welders; Miller suitcase wire feeders and Miller fume extractors in Afghanistan. Carl started out as a production welder for Force Protection in April of 2011, but in October passed the Certified Weld Inspector test and now holds that position in Bagram. His job now requires a certain amount of travel from base to base. He flies with the military on C17s and C140s. He is a true welding hero!

Submitted by his co-worker Anthony Rix

My Hero

I nominate Ned Blair because he has taught me how to weld, and weld right!

Making a Difference

I met Ned after returning from overseas completing a combat tour of duty in Iraq back in 2005. I was offered a job as a mechanic apprentice at Empire Southwest because of the diesel repair work I had done for the military. I had not worked on heavy equipment like the Cats we have. Ned Blair quickly took me under his wing with no questions asked, and trained me from the ground up in the heavy equipment civilian world.

Welding Application

Ned can proficiently weld Stick, TIG, and MIG, and can weld all metals including old-fashioned brazing. We are required in our industry of heavy equipment to do field repairs on site at a mining site or repairs at the shop. When the customer wants to send in the equipment for repairs, Ned is always the first to want to look at it to quickly assess what needs to be done.

Miller on the Job

Ned’s first lesson was that starting off with the right equipment was essential — Miller equipment — the best welders in the business to help an operator make a proper weld. Ned has introduced me to his passion for welding. In short he is one of those go-to guys that we can rely on from everyday life to on-the-job questions. I would not be where I am today without my welding hero, Ned Blair!

Submitted by his co-worker Jeff Guy

My Hero

As an instructor at Canadian Welding Skills College, Joey Gyetvan is inspiring many welders on a daily basis with his passion and enthusiasm for the craft.

Making a Difference

He utilizes his years of experience as well as Miller arc welders and cutters to develop trainees’ skills and excellence in work practices. His positive attitude and encouragement helps aspiring welders to strive for perfection and overcome setbacks and challenges. He is genuine and sincere when he is thrilled with a student’s perfect bend test — as a great coach should be — and equally encouraging when they are far less than perfect.

Welding Application

He is consistently able to demonstrate what a great weld should be and finds points of self-focus for students to overcome their own challenges. He is happy to tutor those who fall behind in symbols and blueprints and generally shows a passion for all aspects of welding as well as displaying pride in professional work habits.

Miller on the Job

Joey, along with his assistants, has positively impacted the careers of many welders over the years. The tailored instruction and testing at the certified CWB test center has inspired many. If that is not a welding hero, I don’t know what one is!

Submitted by his co-worker Eric Raffia

My Hero

Randy Harrington is my Hero. He has been a welding contractor at our facility for 27 years. He is the go-to guy for all the power piping and rig fabrication throughout our building.

Making a Difference

The first time I saw one of Randy’s TIG welds, the bead was so uniform that I thought a machine had done it. Even more amazing is the fact that he is able to produce this kind of work year-round in an outdoor weld area. His knowledge of the code, skill, years of experience, and the support that he provides is invaluable to the company. Being a good welder is only part of the equation; having someone that you can rely on to offer solutions to seemingly complex welding problems and do it consistently to the highest quality level is what he delivers daily.

Welding Application

Today he is sharing his welding knowledge with his son, Chris, who works with him. I have great respect for guys like Randy, the guys that get the job done every day with enthusiasm and pride. Randy is well versed in all welding processes over a wide range of materials and sizes ranging from 1/8″ stainless tubing to 36″ steel pipe flanges. Custom parts are often crafted by hand without fancy equipment.

Miller on the Job

Randy relies on his Dynasty^® 200DX and 304XMT with 22A wire feeder. This equipment has earned its keep — it may not be shiny new anymore, but it has been as reliable as Randy!

Submitted by  his son Zane  Boryskavich

My Hero

I am a 15-year-old boy from Lockport Manitoba nominating my father Steve Boryskavich as my welding hero.

Making a Difference

Since I was a young boy he has taught me many welding tips such as MIG, TIG, Stick and Plasma cutting. He is an excellent teacher and welding hero to me and many friends and coworkers.

Welding Application

My father is an expert welder and I think his desire to show me the right way to weld will lead to a great career for me someday.

Miller on the Job

Currently, the Miller welding products we have are a Millermatic 140 Auto-Set And a Miller Performance welding helmet. The Miller products are excellent equipment, however we want to upgrade to a bigger welder such as the Miller 211 Auto set with the multi-voltage plug adapter.

Submitted by his co-worker Leonard Hall

My Hero

Fil Rocha is my Hero because he took over a welding teaching position halfway into a school year in what was his first year of teaching! Talk about a difficult task.

Making a Difference

Fil has a great attitude with the students (11th and 12th graders) and the other teachers at our school. He is able to get the students involved in school activities and welding projects. He broadens their abilities in welding with art, manufacturing, and areas like utilities. Fil has a drive to turn students into the best welders they can be. He is a professional, shows respect and demands respect, which in turn makes his students great employees and young adults.

Welding Application

To give you another way to gauge Fil’s dedication to teaching: He drives one hour to get to our school every day just so he has the chance to work with his kids. He challenges the bright students and keeps the slower ones from getting discouraged. Fil engages the students with his expertise in welding art, welding sculpture work, and motorcycle work. He helps boys become men.

Miller on the Job

Fil uses the educational resources from Miller and the local distributor provides the class with equipment. Fil uses equipment like gloves as incentives in class to maintain student interest and as rewards for a job well done. His giveaways are often unexpected surprises for the students. Fil relies on Miller equipment and he is a welding Hero.

Submitted by his wife, Cindy

My Hero

Mark Clodfelter is my Hero because he found himself laid off from a metal treating business so he decided to enroll in a local community college welding class. He had little or no experience in welding, but he knew that it would lead to a new career.

Making a Difference

He is very thankful to his instructor, Mike Harmon, for sharing his skill and knowledge with him, as well as his classmate and dear friend, Steve Hodge, for his support and willingness to help him. Steve answers lots of welding questions and found opportunities that he offered Mark that led him to his current success.

Welding Application

In his semester course, he has successfully accomplished certification in both Stick and MIG welding. He is now very passionate about welding and wants to strive for certification in TIG welding as well.

Miller on the Job

His love for his new skill development drove him to purchase a 1982 Millermatic® 200 welder, and he has completely restored it back to original condition, and it performs very well. I bought him a Miller welding jacket to celebrate his accomplishments in this semester course. Mark always strives to not just get the job done but to do achieve the highest level of performance.

Submitted by his co-worker Patrick Kein

My Hero

Joel Stanley is my Hero because he is the ideal model for what a welder can become. He began as a welder, worked hard every day and was promoted to quality control manager of Fastco Corp.

Making a Difference

As a certified welding inspector (CWI), he holds himself to the highest ethical standard. As a certified welder, he settles for nothing short of perfection in the quality of his own welds. Whenever there is a less talented welder struggling, he is always willing to offer his assistance.

Miller on the Job

Joel was the driving force behind Fastco’s recent purchase of the Miller® PipePro® 450 system, which we used to produce X-ray quality welds for natural gas service. As usual, once the machine was delivered to the shop, Joel was quick at it to qualify the welding procedure and show the inexperienced and experienced welders alike what great quality welds that the Miller PipePro can create. The RMD® process is unparalleled with ease of operation and quality when performing V groove open root welds on pipe. Thanks Joel and thank you Miller!

Submitted by colleagues and students from the University of Alberta

My Hero

In the three years he has been with the University of Alberta, Stuart Guest has been a critical part of our welding lab. As a teaching assistant he has been able to stay on top of the welding courses and has mentored countless younger engineering students.

Making a Difference

Stuart has become the go-to guy in the welding lab (under his own initiative), and is doing groundbreaking research with high speed automated hot-wire TIG welding utilizing Miller equipment. He has inspired countless numbers of students to reach for the best they can do.

Welding Application

Stuart has mastered using the Miller PipePro^® and integrated it with almost all other pieces of equipment in our lab, and this has all been accomplished without any direction or instruction. I am certain if he is not some kind of superhero, he could be some sort of genius with infinite energy!

Miller on the Job

Stuart has been able to figure out almost any process, and perform almost any kind of welding.  He works with a Dynasty 700, and for demos he uses a Millermatic^® 212, a Spectrum^® 2050 and a PipePro 450. He has taken on so many initiatives that I would say we would be hopelessly lost without him.

Nominated by his colleague Todd Cantebury

My Hero

My nomination is Mr. Ed Murray of Lakewood, Calif. Ed has been the man to go to in the Long Beach, Calif. metropolitan area for 40 years. If anyone needed the highest quality welding, Mr. Murray was the only source!

Making a Difference

On many occasions Ed has worked on the most exotic alloys and processes. His breadth of knowledge on welding processes and materials is literally AMAZING! What has never failed to impress me or my Boeing colleagues is Ed’s knowledge of welding processes! On many occasions, I have gotten a second opinion from Ed despite having access to a legion of Boeing research, materials, and technology experts!

Welding Application

Ed on occasion speaks fondly of his career, which spans from the first jet engines by Westinghouse to the welding of the Minuteman missiles, and many other defense systems that have kept this country safe. Ed is only one of a handful of aircraft welders certified by the FAA in the Long Beach area.

Miller on the Job

Ed is a WW II U.S. Navy veteran who proudly served in the Pacific theater. He is a devout Miller product user and has told me to NEVER buy anything else but Miller! Sadly, at age 86, Ed will be retiring from the profession, and I felt a bit of recognition would be appropriate!