Bellingham Technical College’s welding program has been accredited as a certified test facility by the American Welding Society, considered a gold standard of steel welding and construction standardizing agencies.
The school joins Bates Technical College in Tacoma as the only colleges in Washington state to carry the accreditation.
Gabriel Mast, dean of BTC’s professional technical education, said the AWS endorsement will give students more competitive educational backgrounds when entering the workforce.
BTC culinary wins multiple awards
The technical college has also announced that its culinary arts program has earned acclaim.
The program’s “hot food” team won a silver medal at the Jan. 18 American Culinary Federation State Competition. The team will now represent Washington state in a regional competition held in Oakland, Calif., in early March.
Also, BTC culinary arts instructor Michael Baldwin has been honored as Chef of the Year by the Washington State Chef’s Association; Oleg Victof, a graduate of the school’s culinary program, was awarded Student of Year by the organization.