x GMAW/FCAW Handbook James Mosman was introduced to welding as part of the Agriculture program while attending high school in his hometown of Alden, New York. After a four-year tour with the US Army, Mr. Mosman attended and grad- uated at the top of his class from El Paso Trade School as a certified welder. He moved to Odessa, Texas to work fi in the oil and gas manufacturing industry in 1981. Mr. Mosman spent the next 20 years as a welder, working both in the fi eld and in manufacturing facilities. fi Mr. Mosman earned his AAS degree from Odessa College and a BA de gree from University of Texas Permian Basin. He is also a certifi welding inspector through the American Welding Society and an NCCER Certifiedfi fied Master Trainer. Mr. Mosman is an associate professor of welding technology and department chair of Industrial Technology at Odessa College, where he has taught since 1998. Under his direction, the Odessa College welding program has grown from 45 students to over 200 enrolled each semester. He served as Program Coordinator of a Department of Labor four-year grant, which provided introductory welding courses to over 700 students. He also continues to work as a CWI, welding consultant, and trainer for several companies throughout Texas. Mr. Mosman is a member of the Practical Welding Today Editorial Advisory Committee and has contributed to several articles for this magazine. He also serves on the City of Odessa Public Art Committee and has built metal sculptures in his artistic moments. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling throughout the United States, Europe, and the West Texas back roads on his Harley-Davidson. William H. Minnick, realizing the need for a specialized type of welding text for instructors and students, drew on his many years of experience as a welder, welding engineer, and community college instructor to develop welding texts for training future welders. The author’s career in industry included experience welding on jet engines, missiles, pressure vessels, and nuclear reactors. He developed the welding procedures for, and welded, the first titanium pressure vessel for the Atlas missile program. He has written many technical papers, fi including articles on the research and development of procedures for welding exotic materials and on the modi- fi cation of existing welding processes for automatic and robotic applications. fi Mr. Minnick taught all phases of welding and metallurgy in community colleges for more than 20 years. He developed welding certifi and degree programs. In addition to this textbook, Mr. Minnick has authored the ficate Gas Tungsten Arc Welding Handbook. About the Authors