South Mediteranian Welding Center for Education, Training and Quality Control,

The recent economic and deep political crisis in the South Mediteranian (SM) region show that access to higher education is NOT a sufficient prerequisite for economic stabilty and job creation. The mismatching between academic programmes and labour market has created a political and economic void where young, high educated people have difficult to build careers in the industrial sector.The SM Weld promotes a novel nodel of partnership university-industry to enhance quality of workforce through education and training contributing to knowledge transfer, increasing employability of engineers and technical staff and supplying North-African industry with highly qualified personnel. The implementation of welding standard ISO 3834 in North African companies will contribute to a considerable strengthen of their economical competitivness.SM Weld overall goal is to implement the International System for Higher Education and practical Qualification of Welding Personnel based on the harmonised European System for Welding. The SM Weld objectives:(i) Academic level: MSc specialization in Welding and Coordinatation of the IWE/IWT education(ii) Welding personnel: Implement and Coordinate activities of training and certification of welding personnel(iii) Company level: Coordinate the implementation and certification of welding organizations in ISO 3834.To accomplish these objectives:(i) Education: Master specialization in welding and joining (ii) Mobility: Training of academic and welding academic staff and personnel in EU- and PC countries(iii) Knowledge transfer: Dissemination and information seminars, and workshops regarding implemention of ISO 3834 (iv) Certification: Development of a common European recognized qualification and certification system in welding.Project Outputs• Welding specialization• Welding Center organization• Educational and training material• Training of staff and academic staff • Exploitation Plan • Certification system