In an effort to develop the technical skills of Bermudians by increasing their training capacity and capability, two new national training facilities opened at the Technical Education Centre at Bermuda College yesterday.

The National Electrical Training Facility will provide electrical lab and workshop skills training while the new National Welding Facility will provide welding instruction to incumbent welding technicians, apprentices, full-time welding students and technicians seeking a second skill.

The facilities will also serve as certification testing centres.

During the official opening yesterday, Education Minister Terry Lister said the National Welding Facility was established through the National Training Board (NTB) in partnership with the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology (HIWT) and the Bermuda College.

A smaller NTB welding centre was previously located in Devonshire, but Mr. Lister said the new facility was a more enhanced training unit with more instructional and work space and was better equipped.

He said it was decided to permanently establish the new facility at the Bermuda College in order to meet the expanding needs of the construction, fuel, electrical supply, marine and transportation industries.

So far 24 Bermudians have acquired 49 welding qualifications and 18 welding practitioners have earned American Welding Society (AWS) and American Society of Mechanical Engineers certifications.

He said NTB signed an agreement in November 2002 which gave the NTB licensing rights for the local delivery of HIWT welding training using their curricula, learning materials and the HIWT world respected qualification certificate.

Bermuda is only the second licensed Hobart training facility in the world, outside the United States.

A former welder, who once used HIWT equipment to gain his certification, was on hand yesterday to show off the new centre ? the College?s own president, Dr. Charles Green.

The National Welding Training Facility at the College, encompasses 1,800 square feet and is the micro version of the HIWT?s 80,000 square foot facility in Troy, Ohio in the United States.

In addition to its main training function, the National Welding Training Facility will also have an income-generating capability. Mr. Lister said this meant that NTB trainees would gain valuable experience and hone their skills by working on real welding fabrication and construction projects.

?The income generated from production will provide the college with revenue, support the Belco - EssoShell Welding Educator Scholarship and support welding training,? he said.

Meanwhile the National Electrical Training Facility was developed to provide an electrical lab and workshop skills training.

The building, adjacent to the welding facility, has a full size classroom for a maximum of 16 students, work tables for 16 students and diagnostic work stations for 14 students.

It also boasts the latest electrical simulator and diagnostic equipment and once complete, will serve as the facility standard for local technical training facilities. The facility is expected to be fully operational in the Spring.

The NTB and the Bermuda College have also commenced plans to transfer the National Electrical Training Facility directly to the Bermuda College.

Under the new National Occupational Certification Act, competent technical skills and training are critically important to facilitate the national certification of practitioners.

Mr. Lister said he believes the only way forward was through the provision of instruction by fully qualified Bermudians in state-of-the-art facilities through partnership strategies.