By Jessica Peterson
Front Range Community College becomes the first of Colorado’s 13 community colleges to train students in laser welding, meeting surging demand from the state’s manufacturing employers.

Front Range Community College has received a $250,000 grant from the Colorado Community College System through its Innovations in Career and Technical Education grant. This will make FRCC the first community college in Colorado to offer instruction in laser welding.

FRCC already runs one of the region’s strongest traditional welding programs, and the grant funding will outfit FRCC’s Larimer Campus with the same laser welding equipment now used by Northern Colorado’s aerospace, medical device, electronics and advanced manufacturing employers.

“As an innovator in career-technical education, FRCC is stepping up to meet industry needs, while giving our students the latest skills for career success,” said college President Colleen Simpson, EdD. “With Colorado’s manufacturing, aerospace, and medical device sectors increasingly adopting laser welding, FRCC is dedicated to ensuring graduates remain competitive in the workforce. By expanding training in this area, we are helping close a skills gap that local employers say is limiting growth.”

Responding to Industry Needs

“Laser welding isn’t a someday technology—it’s happening right now, in shops across Northern Colorado,” said Chris McGilvray, dean of FRCC’s School of Manufacturing, Skilled Trades and Applied Technologies. “Our employer partners tell us there is fast-growing demand for workers who are trained in this technology.”

Six local businesses signed a letter of support for the college’s grant application, indicating that these skills will make FRCC graduates more employable:

• C&H Solutions | Ault
• CSU Powerhouse | Fort Collins
• General Air | Fort Collins
• Living Design Studios | Erie
• MGS Inc. | Fort Collins
• Tanco Engineering | Loveland

“This grant lets us put cutting-edge equipment directly in front of students,” added McGilvray. “They will graduate with the skills employers are actively looking for and can’t find anywhere else in the state.”

State-of-the-Art Equipment

The grant will equip FRCC’s School of Manufacturing, Skilled Trades and Applied Technologies with high-tech equipment to train students in both handheld and robotic laser welding. The college will use the funding to purchase:

• A FANUC collaborative robot
• Two IPG Photonics laser welding systems
• A laser-safe enclosure and other safety gear

This addition will not only make FRCC the first of the 13 schools in the Colorado Community College System to offer laser welding instruction; it will also expand student access to robots, cobots and advanced CAD/CAM equipment.

Laser welding uses a concentrated beam of light instead of a traditional electric arc, producing cleaner, more precise welds with less heat distortion. It’s a technique increasingly required for joining thin, exotic materials such as titanium used in aerospace and medical device manufacturing.

Expanding Access and Capacity

FRCC’s welding program currently offers many certificates such as gas metal arc welding, gas tungsten arc welding and metal fabrication, as well as a new automated welding and cutting certificate. Students can also stack these certificates to earn an associate degree in welding technology.

Adding laser welding lets FRCC introduce the technology across each of those credentials. The new equipment will also expand capacity in FRCC’s automated welding and cutting certificate, increasing the number of students the program can train each semester.

All of the college’s full-time welding faculty will complete Industrial Laser Safety Officer training. Instructors will also pursue FANUC robotics certification, ahead of the technology’s rollout in FRCC classrooms in the fall of 2027.

The Power of 13 Colleges

FRCC plans to leverage this investment to reach more students around the state. The college will share its new laser welding curriculum freely with Colorado’s other community colleges as an open educational resource.

FRCC is receiving the largest possible award out of the nearly $2 million that the Colorado Community College System is distributing this year to support 11 CTE projects across Colorado. This grant is part of CCCS’s Innovations in Career and Technical Education program.

To learn more about FRCC’s welding programs, visit www.frontrange.edu.

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About Front Range Community College

Front Range Community College (FRCC) is Colorado’s largest community college, serving more than 27,000 students each year. With courses offered at multiple locations,  online and through our high school Concurrent Enrollment programs, at FRCC, learners can choose from more than 200 degrees and certificates in a wide variety of fields. For more information, visit frontrange.edu.  

The college’s strategic plan, Forward, Together, focuses on five strategic priorities:   

• Learning Without Limits  
• Success for Every Learner  
• Vibrant Culture  
• College Excellence  
• Transformational Partnerships  

FRCC is proud to be part of the Colorado Community College System, advancing educational access and workforce development across the state.  

About the Colorado Community College System

The Colorado Community College System (CCCS) is the state’s largest system of higher education, serving 114,000 students annually at 13 colleges and 35 locations across Colorado. Our open access mission ensures all Coloradans who aspire to enrich their lives have access to quality higher education opportunities.