(HARLINGEN, Texas) – Since the inception of Texas State Technical College’s Maritime Welding Workforce Training program in 2021, many alumni have found great success.
One such graduate is Ezra Stieglitz, who now works as a welding instructor at an area educational institution in Harlingen.
“I’ve always wanted to teach in higher education and help others become excellent welders,” he said.
One of Stieglitz’s fellow welding instructors, Juan Lopez, said Stieglitz has demonstrated expert welding knowledge in the short time that he has worked with him.
“Ezra’s impact is evident through one-on-one discussions he conducts with his students,” Lopez said.
Additionally, Stieglitz utilized his education and knowledge to launch a welding business that includes producing art projects.
“I began the venture in 2014,” he said. “I have clients in 18 states and two countries. Some of those projects include a 3-foot sundial and a 4-foot-long dragon.”
In 2010 Stieglitz earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in Art from Illinois State University, where his sculpting professor introduced him to welding. That interest led him to a community college in Illinois to study welding. Then he relocated to Colorado in 2011.
“After I moved, I studied Welding Technology at Front Range Community College,” he said. “I learned stick, MIG, TIG, flux core and robotic welding techniques. I earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in Welding Technology from that community college in 2013.”
Eventually Stieglitz moved to Brownsville. He learned about TSTC’s Maritime Welding program when he spotted a billboard as he drove through Port Isabel.
“I enrolled and completed the eight-week training program,” he said. “I earned a Maritime Welding Level 1 certificate from the National Center for Construction Education and Research in 2022. In addition, I earned a forklift training and skid steer certification from TSTC’s Workforce Training and Continuing Education program that same year.”
TSTC instructor Samuel Grimaldo said Stieglitz displayed punctuality, integrity and craftsmanship as a student.
“His influence had an impact on everyone,” he said. “Ezra’s creativity allowed him to fabricate an ergonomic device for welders in hopes to sell it on the marketplace.”
TSTC’s Workforce Training and Continuing Education Maritime Welding program will begin its next eight-week cohort on Feb. 6, 2023.
Contact Linda Cavazos at 956-364-4553 or linda.cavazos@tstc.edu for more information about the program.
For more information about TSTC, visit tstc.edu.
