Episode 206 with Ivan Wright and Max Ceron

With a vast selection of premium equipment , safety gear and consumables . Cws has got you covered . They offer fast and reliable shipping across the country . And here's the best part All podcast listeners get 10% off any pair of welding gloves . Can you believe that ? Use code CWB10 at checkout when placing your next order . Visit canadaweldingsupplyca now .

Canada Welding Supply , your trusted welding supplier . Happy welding . Hello and welcome to another edition of the CWB Association podcast . My name is Max Saron and , as always , I'm out there trying to find the coolest talent I can in this beautiful country of ours .

This episode is going to be a special episode , where we're going to be talking to Mr Ivan Wright , who's a well technician from Ferronius , canada and also a member of the Black community here in Canada , and we're going to be tying it into the wonderful month of Black History Month , which we always take the opportunity to try to learn as much as we can about

the black community , not just in terms of welding , but also in terms of Canada . We have a long , storied history here in this country and I think it's always a point of pride to have these episodes and to teach and learn more about what our communities are based upon . And with so , ivan , welcome to the show .

Awesome man .

I think it kind of set us up Like he knew this was going to happen . I think he had the idea there all along . But for the people that don't know you , let's start right at the beginning . Let's start with where you were born . Where do you call roots or home ?

My stepfather was a carpenter , so growing up I did a lot of carpentry work . I worked with my hands . I was always very inquisitive as to how things worked . I grew up , so you mentioned , or we talked a little bit earlier about my love for motorcycles .

So I grew up I had little dirt bikes and two-stroke motorcycles and they would fail and , you know , trying to put them back together and that kind of stuff . But carpentry I worked for . You know , at a young age I started working bricklaying and things like that .

Right , so that was kind of really that was the start , unbeknownst to me , to me being somewhat successful in the welding industry .

I was just looking for a job , right , I just wanted to get paid somehow .

This is the deep , deep culture of the end , or , you know , mid end , of the slave trade and people looking to start new lives and I always you know it's a it's a wild story that you know the Maritimes were such a big part of that movement that the rest of Canada doesn't really know about Now in your community .

Was it a predominantly like people of color or was it , you know , like a pretty good mix , or were you a minority ?

Like you know , there wasn't a lot of diversity in terms of other cultures , yeah , but there was definitely a mix of white and black in the community that I grew up in and that and folks that I seen on a daily basis and interacted with , for sure , which is way different than a lot of other parts of Atlantic Canada where it's very predominantly white right .

And learning on engines on a two stroke is the best , because you can even put those things together wrong and they still fire up . Like I mean they'll burn oil , more oil , but they'll still give her . But you know you got this bug in you and you're coming up in high school . What are you thinking ? What ? What's the thought process ?

You know you're playing basketball , you know you got some aspirations , but what's the game plan ?

Um , after high school , um , you know , I , I left I a lot , of , a lot of pitfalls in life , right . So , um , I ended up having , um , a young daughter , um , by the time I was 17 . Right , right , um , so that that force fought my hand in a lot of respects , right .

So I had to get out there and work , right , and , um , a big thing in old East , right , right is go West , right . So , if you can't find work here , right , if you can't find what you love or you can't do what you love here , go West , right , there's opportunity , right .

So you know , my dad often tried to get me into the military and all these kind of things . I was a little bit of a wild child and I didn't think that I would , you know , be able to manage life in the military with all the restriction and , you know , regiment , regimented lifestyle . So so I decided , okay , I'm going to , I'm going to head west .

I had some family here in Ontario and so I , so I came to Ontario , I came here um and and was still relatively , you know , rudderless . I didn't , I didn't have a whole lot of direction as to what I was going to do , right .

exploring . I had , I had a cousin that was here and he said , he said at the time , just come on out , come on out and work and we'll , you know , find something and and get into something . Right , just come on out and try it out . If it doesn't work out , you go back , it's not a problem .

So there wasn't really a concrete plan as to what , what I was going to do , right , yeah , and so I came here , I was working , working at a temp agency , and I , I distinctly remember , um , I was at a , it was at a printing , a printing place , uh , in scarborough , and the first week was okay .

Second week they were like , yeah , everybody's off on fridays , um , and like I was driven at this point , right , so , um , empty stomach and a broken heart , right ? um , yeah , so I , I was , I was motivated , right , I need to do something . So I called , I called back to the temp agency and I said listen , the company you have me at right now .

I said they're closed on fridays . I said I need something . I need something that's like five , six , seven days a week , even right , give me the hours , yeah that's right , so that . so the lady calls me back and then she's like okay , um , I got a place for you . It's as much work as you can handle . It's in a wet room environment .

Show up at this place at this time , talk to this person , are you okay with that ? And I said , yeah , yeah , I'm okay with that . So Monday morning I got my stuff together and I showed up to this place and so the guy brings me in and he shows me this big room and he says , okay , so this is , this is what you're going to be doing .

This is your , your rubber boots and your respirator .

And we're going to bring a crane and we're going to drop these tubes off here and you're going to you're going to rinse , dump these tubes in this bath , then you're going to dump them in this bath and you're going to dump them in this bath and then , when they're done , you're going to rinse them all out with um , with a pressure washer .

He said wear your mask , keep your goggles on . This stuff is acid . I said , oh , okay . I said okay , yeah , made sure , right , and and so unbeknownst to me , right , it was a pickle room , right ? So I was pickling stainless .

Tubing stainless yeah , and so this , this company was um , it was a division of san jose , so um , so that was your first foot in the door into like kind of a the steel world . This was my first foot into the , into the , into the steel world . Um , and so yeah , and so I worked , I worked there and there was still I still didn't have a plan .

The first week there I trained . Second week they put me on afternoons , which was also a little bit weird for me because we didn't have three shift locations . At least right it was . You work nine to five and then doors are closed on the weekends . Like you know what I mean so cause this is going back quite some years , right ?

So , anyway , so , okay , yeah , afterno , yeah , no problem . And so I just kept working . I kept pickling tubes , man , and I had a few inspectors come over and they said , man , like what are you doing in there ? Like I've never seen the ID of these tubes so clean , right , Like I said , I don't know , I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do .

I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do . I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do .

So this went on for a while and you know , I always had a business of mind and my own business and just showing up for work and doing what I had to do , right , and so I did that for a number of weeks and then the lead hand on the day shift actually I come in one day and he was from newfoundland , so he always had , you know I think he saw

something to me . He knew I was driven . He probably seen a little bit of himself in me , right and so , uh , he comes to me one day with an envelope and he says here you go . And I'm thinking right away getting fired . I'm looking for another job now , right , right , so , right away , this is what I'm thinking right .

And I said , okay , looking for another job now , right , right , so , right away , this is what I'm thinking Right . And I said , okay , glenn , all right , no problem , right ? He said , just just open it and have a look , cause I think you could tell that I got a little bit discouraged yeah .

And so I opened up this Brown Brown envelope and I look in there and it was a uh , an offer letter of permanent employment . 20-some dollars an hour to start , right , yeah , at that time back in 2004, . That was good money , yeah .

And so I looked at that , I looked at Glenn and I shook his hand and I thanked him and I said , okay , I'm going to go home and I'm going to go over it and everything . To me it was a done deal already .

That was definitely my like my first introduction into the steel world , and and money you can make yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah .

And I and that was that was amazing money , because for me it was like oh , can I get a job at shoppers , drug market , you know , when I was living out east , right , I'm trying to get a job at shoppers , or here or there yeah , yeah you know what I mean . And it just wasn't wasn't working . A lot of those , you know , a lot of those jobs were taken .

So so then I worked in the pickle and shortly after I got hired , they bring me a guy and they're like okay , train this guy . So I'm like , train him , okay . So I trained this guy for a couple days and they look at me and they say , okay , you're going when he's done training , you're going to that machine , you talk to that guy .

And so that's what I did . And then I worked my way through there . I went , and so that machine was a polishing machine . I was polishing industrial cleaning um pipes at that time okay so that I that I had to . You know , there's certain they had to be a certain dimension and this machine was old man .

I think it had to have been 100 years old , I think right . So some , some polishing belts and whatever , and it would break down all the time right . So then I would just do my thing right . Like I said earlier , naturally I was mechanically inclined yeah I grew up inquisitive and mechanically inclined .

That's right , and so I would do my things , I would make my improvements right . I would talk to the maintenance guys like yeah , like we can do this , we can do that . And so then here I am again . Guys are coming and saying like how do you produce so many pipes in a shift ?

Yeah , right like I don't know , I'm just and I and it was on an elevated platform and I would always have my headphones in .

No one really bothered me headphones and I'm just gonna use it right , and it was a physical job right , but I would just pump up , pump up parts man all day long , all day long all day long and so and so then I day long , and so now fast forward two or three years into doing this .

And so now I've met , I've become a little friendly with some of the maintenance guys , some of the mill operators , you're in your 20s .

And they were like and I'm going to name drop right now because this gentleman was very instrumental in my career at Samuel Sons and even after , and a huge , a great amount of respect for this gentleman for the way that he interacted with me , how he treated me , because I did come across some issues related to race at that time during my time there .

But he was a consummate professional and an absolute gentleman . Um , so sha ali was his name , is his name . And so they said you have to go talk to sha um . So I said you know where , where is he at ? And they're like , oh , his office is there , there , whatever . So I said okay . So I I applied first , I applied , I didn't hear nothing back .

So six , eight months go by , I don't hear nothing , um . So I said you want to know what ? I'm just gonna go to shah's office and let him see who I am , who's applying for the job , because I felt like I was the guy . So your , your background , max .

Um , so I was making six inch brew pipe and once I got on the mills I was doing like all kinds of piping and stuff like that , Like a lot of duplex materials and stuff . So I go knock on Shah's door and he's there glass door and he sees me . He looked at me like who are you Right ? Well , I said I'm like motioning . Can I come in ?

And he says yeah yeah , yeah , come , in , come , in come in and I said , hey , like you know , I applied for the mill job a couple of times . I never got a response , but I just want to let you know , or let you meet who the person is behind the name . So he looks at me , he says okay , all right .

And I'm waiting for some like warm response , like all right , yeah , like you're the guy you know what I mean . And he's like okay , yeah , cool . Close the door behind me , right , I'm like , okay , closed the door by a day , right , and I was like man , that didn't go how . I thought it was going to go right .

And so I think it was maybe the next day or the day after I'm walking in for my shift and I hear somebody calling my name , ivan Ivan , and I'm looking around and I turn around and it's Shaw , and he Ivan Ivan . I'm looking around and I turn around and it's Shaw and he says right , and so from there he asked me .

He says , dude , you want to work on the mill ? I said I do , I do , and that was my introduction to welding . So , we had . We had to join coils right . So we had to take , take , take , weld the coils together and it was a . It was a timed event . We would rifle the end of the coils down into the .

We had a pit there and a clamping bench and a TIG machine and we TIG welded the coils together , and that's not no little TIG machine .

Some material stick or whatnot and it would . These welds were important because if the well , if the welds failed at the ends in the breakdown um rolls , that could mean that we have to take all the material out of the mill , reset the mill , we have to readjust the heights and it just like resetting the mill again , right ?

so if if that went wrong , it could be hours , or even sometimes days of you know changing over the mill or fixing this , fixing that . Huge money loss yeah , yeah , yeah , and I've had drive shafts fail and all kinds of stuff , and so again guys would compliment me , right , like you never have these welds fail , right .

And then one of the maintenance guys was like you know , they had a mig welder there or do some mig welding , and just that's really where I got my start and and my passion , because when I would take well , those , those , those coils together , right , I could , you know just the , the arc burning , nice , clean arc , and it was quiet , and I would you know ,

have my little , you're in the zone , yeah right and and they would look good , right . I was like like nice little pattern , I put in there as well . I was like okay , like I can uh you know I can do . Yeah .

a little bit . So no , you're you grew up in in rural , um , nova Scotia . Now in your community , your community is your community , um , and and from what I understand , you know how was your upbringing in terms of you being of mixed race .

You know , like was that something that was odd or normal , or like you know , because usually when you go to the bigger centers , the bigger cities , that's usually when you start , really you know , encountering a lot of discrimination . People can be a lot more I guess I don't know ugly about how how they treat people with less consequence .

When you're in a small town you can't really do that because that gets around pretty quick Right Now . Did you notice a big difference going from Nova Scotia to Ontario in terms of how people treated you , and did you think it was racial or did you think it was just because you're from the east coast ?

I think , it's better than it was years ago , but I think the racism that I encountered in Nova Scotia was somewhat subdued .

I mean , coming up in school , there were some things in terms of racism that I had to deal with , like kids being kids , right , I went to um well , and they get it from their parents , so like they get taught racism right like yeah , and I mean for me , I , I went to a predominantly white school .

I think I was one of two black kids in the school , so and so my parents split up . My mom moved to um a suburb of halifax where I went to school and I encountered some some pretty harsh stuff as a young kid . Um , that that stays with me to this day , right , I I tell the story often , but kids were being kids , right .

A five-year-old , somebody different in the neighborhood , you know . I mean , I was happy , go lucky kid riding my bike around . They would call me names right push me down and I was a target and I was , I still am . I'm a very nice person , right , I'm a , I'm a very nice guy , but I , I had to learn to be , to be tough at a young age , right ?

So , uh , that was always a challenge , that was always a challenge , but , um , you know , I , I , I overcame that in some respects , but that that kind of was part of the struggles . Growing up , right is dealing with these kind of things . Now , fast forward , moving to Ontario and dealing with these kind of things .

As an adult , I'll tell you , I've had some really mean things said to me at work , at work , right , and so , like I said , shah ali , there was some stuff to happen there , um , you know , and I always try to go over things in a professional manner , especially at work , uh , but he handled things very , very gracefully , um , on my behalf , um , a couple , a

couple , you know , there's a couple different things that are instances I remember . Deal with racism here . Um , so it's still , it's still out there , it's still a thing . Um , it would be nice to think that it doesn't exist anymore , but that's not the reality , right ?

But one of the things that racism starts to do to you as a young kid is you start putting up walls right , and so when you meet a new person that's not of your color , you know you immediately have to assess real quickly if they're genuinely nice or if they're fake nice , or if they're going to be mean or if they're going to be racist or a bigot .

You have to have these thoughts and it's you start doing it just automatically , it just becomes part of the walls , of how you protect yourself , but it's an ugly wall to have , like you wish you didn't . you wish you could just be like hey new person . How's it going ?

That's right you can never do that , not once , can you do that for the rest of your life , because you got to be like hey , I'm Max , how are you ? You got to like go through this feel out period , which is really stupid , but it but it , but it exists , right .

Sometimes it's hard to um understand the thought process , right Cause , at the end of the day , when you're a kid , you're just a kid , right yeah ?

Were you able to draw on their experiences , like , were they able to explain to you like it must've not been easy for them either as a mixed race couple , right For sure , for sure .

that right is , is really how I can sum it up um but yeah , for sure , they definitely had , um probably had a lot tougher than folks do these days in terms of being in that you know , mixed relationship right yeah , you hope it's gotten better .

You want to go , you want to put hours in , you want to , you want to move up and make something of yourself and get paid . But , but you know , and I and you're in a , and it happens in every shop , every shop I've ever been in my life , there's always that one person or you know there's going to be there and going to be a thorn in your side .

But sometimes they , they look for you , right , cause they know that you don't want confrontation , you don't want to have no issues , um , because you're trying to further yourself or better yourself , right , um . So you know , you start out , you know , by killing them with kindness being .

You know being being nice to them , right , um , and then , when that doesn't work , max right , you just catch them . You know , while they're alone and have a conversation just let them know , right , like , yeah , this doesn't , it's not gonna fly , right . So , yeah , you take that fight and and take it elsewhere , but it's not gonna work here , right ?

Um , and that's where my old man came in , right , where you gotta be a little bit tough sometimes to deal with these things , right ?

So , yeah , man , just just try to avoid the situations , right .

Um , be a consummate professional , right , that's , that's always the key yeah um , keep your head up , be proud of , of who you are and what you're doing , and then understand that there's you know there's things bigger than all of us here , right , in terms of what we're doing , and focus on those kinds of things more than anything , right ? So ?

. You know , there was some stuff , some stuff going on with the economy . Um , like I , I've been an avid um motorcyclist motocross um most of my life , since I've been about five Um . So I ended up getting hurt on my motorcycle , um on my dirt bike back then , so I was off work for for a year or so . Oh , wow .

I had to take some time off to recover at that time , plus the economy , um , and I just made a conscious decision that , um , I was gonna go on on and do something else from samuel sons , right , as much as I , you know , I love the place , I enjoyed the work and the people were were amazing , I just felt that there was something else out there and and I

think I was , I was , um , headed here earlier , but , um , you know , I come from a time and a place where you , you know , you get a good job , you work there and then you retire there , yeah , right . So that's kind of the mentality I had when I started at Samuel was , you know , okay , you're alive for now . Yeah , this is where I'm going to retire .

This is it Right ? So you know , after after having the accident and being off work for a little while , I , you know , I talked to them and I'm like listen , I'm you know , I'm gonna , I'm gonna pursue something else , right ? so , um , my goal was to pursue civil engineering . Um , at the time , I go back to university , yeah , yeah , yeah .

So I took some , some classes , I was going to seneca college for a while and then , um , you know , life , life being what it is , I think we talked earlier about my path , and welding isn't a direct straight line where I have to go there's .

There's some ups and downs and with some highs and some lows , Right , so the times of the time that I was off was a very low time in my life . It was . It was a tough time , Um , but I was like I was still determined that I'm going to make it , but I was like I'm still determined that I'm going to make it right .

So I took these courses at Seneca , I'm pursuing civil engineering . The money runs out , the money runs out , and so , okay , what's next ? Right , so I start digging , I start looking . Okay , so I find a job at a small , um , a small company that that was producing , uh , wire mesh , um . So I got a job there as a setup guy .

So I was doing setup for resistance welders , spot welders , some , some ped welders and stuff like that , um , and they at the time had a at the very back corner , had a robotic weld cell back there and it never ran the whole time I was there .

Um , so I was doing a really good job as far as I'm concerned , like setting up the machines , getting parts out , like keeping the uptime good , troubleshooting the welding , making sure the defects were . You know , we're reducing defects and increasing throughput in the shop .

So one day the general manager comes to me and he says he says , do you want to get involved in the robotics program ? I looked at him .

If you have questions , you need anything , please don't wait till the last minute . Let me know so we can take action and get this stuff out the door . And so within two weeks I had everything done , programmed , ready to go . And he's looking at me , he's like you done already . I said are you sure ? I'm like , yeah , I'm sure .

So we ran some tests and he looked at me . He's like , wow . He's like I didn't even think you'd get it done in 30 days , right and so and so . But that was it for me . Um , I , from then on I knew exactly what I , what I wanted to do , um with my working career for the rest of my life right , automation , welding , right , um . So that that was it .

And so I worked there for for another couple of years . Um , you know , things happen in , in , in workplaces and you know not , not everybody sees eye to eye , but , um , that was another , another great experience and I tell you um Just a great mentor .

And you know , another key individual in my career that I really hold dear to my heart and I'm going to drop his name too Matt Bolger . He really helped guide me and educate me and really helped get me to a next level in terms of automation and welding . That's awesome help get me to a next level in terms of automation and welding .

That's awesome , yeah , yeah , yeah , and I can never thank him enough , um , you know , for for the positions that he put me in to be successful . Uh , just educate me . He's a brilliant person , uh as well , so uh , always a big shout out to him for everything . Um ,

so , yeah . So I did that for a number of years and then I left that company and I went to another , smaller Also . Okay , let me backtrack for a second . I did a bunch of fabricating there , so a bunch of MIG , weld and manual . We were fabricating .

They were doing a project for some big stainless bins and we we took that robotic cell , we modified it to accept these large vessels and we do a lot of stainless welding at that time , and the kicker to the story is that cell that I , that I first was involved in uh , was uh the escala motor man robot with um froeys , tps , cmt right , so that will that

that will tie into things later on as that must have been an early cmt , like I mean yep , yep , yep , tps , cmt , yeah , yeah , so that was my first , my very first introduction . Um do well , I can't say first introduction , but that was like major robotics , but I was you know the the rolling two bills .

That was automation too right yeah , that's all automated equipment . Yeah right so , but that that was my first into like really programming my own stuff and plc and all this kind of stuff , right so ?

I find that that's always something really really you know key to people that are successful that you don't ever run away from something , you only run towards something . So like if it's , if you know I've worked in shops that were terrible , or you know musty , dirty , unsafe . You know 80% of the people in there .

I could be fine never seeing them again , but you run into one or two and they teach you something and you go with it . That's part of your journey . That's part of your journey , right , and you take what you take , the good and you forget about the bad . Who cares ? It doesn't matter , right ?

How can I better myself ? Right , um I'm a very giving person , but you know I'm also selfish in terms of like well , you can't give from an empty cup , right ? you can't give , that's right to cup , you got to fill your cup first . That's right . And what and what can I take from this experience ?

Right , what you know , whether it's good or it's bad , right , but what ? But what can I take from it ? What can I learn from it ? Right , and how can I better myself in every situation ?

You know what happens after you get that automation bug and you start working with robotic welders , which is very much going to lead to where you're sitting in a red room right now . So we'll be right back here . Make sure you guys don't go anywhere . We'll be right back here with Ivan right on the CWB association podcast .

Looking for top quality welding machines and accessories , Look no further than CannaWeld , Based in Vaughan , Ontario . Cannaweld designs further than canna weld , based in vaughan , ontario . Canna weld designs , assembles and tests premium welding machines right here in canada .

Our products are csa certified and ontario made approved , reflecting our unwavering commitment to excellence . Count on us for superior service that's faster and more efficient than market competitors . Whether you're in aerospace , education or any other precision welding industry , canna weld has the perfect welding solution for you .

Visit cannaweldcom today to discover why professionals rely on CannaWeld for their welding needs . Cannaweld where precision meets reliability in welding . Enjoy peace of mind with our four-year warranty on most machines . Conditions do apply . Josephgassesca , your one-stop welder's superstore .

Whether you run a welding shop or are just starting your welding journey , Joseph Gass , the welder's superstore is the best place for everything related to welding . Come to the site or browse our top picks of welders , helmets and welding supplies specific to your industry . Even filter out the items eligible for manufacturer cash rebates .

Our intuitive search tool puts everything at your fingertips and checkout is always a breeze . Pay securely with your credit card at any time . If you are ready to streamline your welding supply shopping experience , visit josephgassesca that's Joseph with an F as in family .

Start filling your cart with welder confidence and we are back here on the CWB Association podcast . Thanks so much for staying with us today .

This episode has been a special episode that we're recording for Black History Month and we have a wonderful guest here , Ivan Wright , who is a weld technician with Fronius and calls his home in Ontario now , but is originally from the East coast out in Nova Scotia Now , right before the break we talked about , you know , that first opportunity to work in a weld

cell and and the different challenges and the new things you need to learn when you start looking at full automation .

Um , a lot of people look at a welding robot or automation cell for welding and they only worry about the hot wire on the end , without thinking about the billion steps there is in between , with fixtures , the ground , the robot , programming , consumables , types , parameters , variables and even all the selections of sensors and different setups you could do within the

same you know unit , so you start dipping your toes into this and you're thinking that you got the bug . Now what do you do , Ivan ? What do you start doing ?

So the lead robot guy there he was , um , I don't know if it was me that he didn't like or if it was what I represented that he didn't like . I don't know , but he didn't . He didn't like me for sure , right .

I knew motor man a little bit , right , yeah , um , robots , iskawa , right , yeah . So I go there . They've got um . Now they got some phoenix in there , um , some , I think they had some hannah socks and some old motor mans or whatever . But anyways , yeah , um , I'll make this one quick , because it was .

It was just a speed bump in my , in my path , right , yeah , um , but he treated me like trash , right , like anything that he could do to make my life difficult he would do , right . So in the end I ended up leaving there . But while there I learned a little bit about FANUC and some Panasonic or what have you , and so I applied for a job .

It was I was reaching , I thought at this point , but I applied for a job at a Martin Rea facility in Brampton here in Ontario , and that's a big , established company .

I could succeed . So I worked with another well tech on afternoons . That really taught me a lot of the robotic side of things . So I learned ABB and this is something that I want to mention because it's it's important to me . I'm a car guy , gearhead , but I worked on the . And this is something that I want to mention because it's it's important to me .

I'm a car guy , gearhead , but I , I worked on the and this is this is like welding , canadiana kind of yeah right so uh , we were producing the camaro in oshawa at that time , and so we were producing all american muscle in canada , right ?

so yeah , to me it was , it was amazing , right , and so I'm camaros , or the v6 camaros oh , we were , we were producing like rs's oh , we were producing the engine cradles so okay , all right , cool we're for um the coupes , um the convertibles or whatever right , yeah , um , and I , I would assume , I mean I got a mustang outside .

So I ran that line into service right , so ran it right into service part , so you know at some points it was you need to make 10 parts for whatever the line would be down , and this is a big line , probably a couple hundred robots on the front and rear line , and so you know I got involved with vision systems , um red herring programs , right , so creating

the next year yeah , yeah , I was integrating , like I was literally integrating cells myself , programming them right um and so , um , they had adhesive systems , they had projection welding , spot welding , not welders like everything like under the sun in this one facility , right , and , and I was on afternoons and there was times like I was the only well tech there ,

right , so it's sink or swim Like I can't , right . And so I had a guy that I could call all the time , um , ali Muhammad , my , still my friend to this day , but just another instrumental person that really believed in me and my capabilities and what I brought to the table . Right , but I'll never forget , you know , a couple of times getting stuck right .

So I'm dealing with sometimes 12 robots that are all interconnected , right , and one of them goes down . How do I troubleshoot that ? How do I , you know , get the lineup going ? I got . How ? do you isolate that one out ? Yeah , that's right .

I got 20 , 30 operators that are dependent on me that they don't want to go home early because they got mouths to feed to and all this kind of stuff , right . So there was some , some pressure there , right , and I always somehow found a way to make things happen .

And it goes back to my childhood and and my , my inquisitive nature and and you know , uh , my , some of my troubleshooting skills that I learned when I was quite young , right .

You had a few up and goes and like I mean it happens to I think more to people in the trades that they care to admit that sometimes you just don't fit in the job . It ain't the job , it's you and that's fine Bounce . You know , like you're not going to work everywhere perfectly , but at this job .

Now you know , now you're coming up on your late 20s , early 30s . I'm trying to follow the timeline here .

I had a . They gave me a training cell where I could bring the robots in and educate um the younger folks that they're hiring , right . So how to master a robot , like how to , how to communicate with the robot , with the welders , and all these kinds of things . So , yeah , there was no intent for me to leave . They treated me quite well there .

There was nothing that I wanted that I asked for , that they didn't give me . I made my own hours , more or less . I ended up getting married and bringing um young lady into the world and they , they let me jump to day shift whenever I need it , right ?

so , yeah , like there was no intent for me to leave , I'll say that , right , and and just having and just having that mentality yeah , that I that I still have to this day , like when you get a job right . It's kind of one of those things , like you should stay there , make a way . You know loyalty is a big factor right In everything that I do .

So , yeah , I was . You know that was my . I was going to be there for the foreseeable future and yet and yet here we are .

I , I , I remember back then welding with cmt , thinking like I've never seen so much like this , yeah , like what is this right , yeah , um , so yeah , I mean I got the . The knock on the door brought fronius , but how back up ?

They lost a couple technicians here , and so he called me up and he was like you should apply so I was like you know , my little girl . I think my little girl was like six months at the time .

I was like I'm good where I'm at , like I'm stable right now I can , I don't know if I want , if I don't if I want some change like that , that's too much change and I don't know . I think Ronis might be out of my league a little bit .

He's like I'm gonna drop by for coffee , right so yeah come through right come through and , uh , we'd have coffee , we'd chat and he know he's like apply for that job , man , Like I think you'd be a good fit , Like you know you've got the skills to do the job . Like you know you're very knowledgeable .

He's like I know what you're capable of , like you should apply right . And it took some convincing . I even talked to my wife . I was like , listen , listen , this guy keeps on bothering me , man . I keep telling him no , what do you think ? And she looked at me and said are you crazy ? She said just apply , man . Just apply and see what happens .

I came here and I met with , um , uh , the management team and the tech manager , uh , and so first meeting went okay and so , like for me , it's usually like you get to take an interview and then you get a call , whether you get the job or you didn't , right ?

so yeah , these guys call me back and they're like can you , you come back in for another interview . I'm like what I was like okay . So we go back in for another interview and we talk some more and then they ask me to do a . You know , can you put together a presentation ? Basically is what they ask no , actually sorry , can you do a ?

We want to do a well test . We want you to do a well test . We want you to know right right yeah , so bring your pp so I come in . Um , you know , and I was only I was one of the only to be honest , like for years , I was one of the only weld techs um that had a welding bucket on my toolbox , right ?

so you know how to weld , yeah yeah , anytime I had a troubleshoot , a weld , like even on the robots . Like I'm in there , I'm looking at the arc right , is the arc length long right , or too much wire or what have you right , is the torch angle off ? Always .

And I tell the guys like , yeah , you're well-technical , you have a well helmet , right , but anyway . And yeah , I did a half decent job , I guess , right . So , uh , it came in , did some some vertical up for them and , um , did a little bit of TIG welding .

Um , I'll never claim to be a TIG welder , but you know , uh , I put down some TIG welds for them and right , and uh , I guess , for now , I guess , as they say , that's interview too . I guess , for now , I guess , as they say , that's interview two . Yeah , so that's interview two . And then I had to do a presentation .

So I had to do a comparison presentation of that kind of stuff , which was it was nerve wracking , right , and I spent a lot of time putting it together , but at the end of the day they offered me a job here and I've been working here for the last six years now .

I'm the national product expert for high-performance welding , so I deal with tandem , twin , laser , hybrid or anything heavy deposition here at Ferronia . So that's what I'm doing now . I'm loving every minute of it . There's never a dull moment here .

As you know , we're constantly releasing new equipment , uh , new features , new processes , um , that just enhance the the world of welding the way I see it .

You say you're in , you're in charge of , you know high deposition rate and these things . What does that mean to the customers ? What does that mean to the people coming in and talking to you ?

So helping customers review whatever designs they come up with um recommending applications or processes for their application . Um , so that's that , that's the main part of what I do .

So troubleshooting , like customers have our equipment , so helping them troubleshoot um their stuff on site , whether that involves me going there um to physically assist with my hands on um or or or over the phone , or or or over email that kind of thing ?

From coast to coast , if it's from halifax to vancouver , if there's anything there that's laser , hybrid , um , tandem , twin welding or anything in between , and even , from time to time , just fill it in for the guys , some of the guys at west , and you've got some of the greatest technicians of the planet out in your area too , right ?

Um , oh , left bridge , alberta , uh , edmonton Uh , I haven't made it all the way out West yet , but yeah , um , all over , all over Canada , uh , working on a day-to-day basis . I'm mostly localized Ontario , but yeah that can , that can be from um Sault Ste to Kingston right and now , what about ?

You know , number one do you still experience ? You know , racism in your position now , because now you're in a position of of authority , you're , you've worked your way up a long and hard ladder , but you know , and you hope that these experiences stop at some point in your life . But but have they , or is it still something ?

Every now and then you still got to deal with it in the workplace or with clients or customers or who knows right .

So I not care , but because of what I do , I deal with customers , right , I'm a customer facing technician right , and the answer to your question , max , unfortunately is yes , right , and that comes in different ways , but the answer definitively is yes .

You know how much is it now you trying to give back to help people get to where you are . You know how how much is it now you trying to give back to help people get to where you are .

inspiring more so is important , and I'm not afraid to tell my story , right , because if it wasn't for the challenge and some of the barriers , I wouldn't be where I am right . So it's super important .

I wish I had more opportunity to inspire and give back , but I think right now , what I'm doing here , speaking with you , is one of those platforms that I've been blessed to partake in , and maybe my story will inspire somebody out there that's maybe struggling with racism or lack of direction , right , yeah , and see it and say , like there is something there ,

right , if I just keep on pushing forward , right , keep pushing forward , good things will happen if I believe in myself .

Right , and yeah , absolutely , and any chance that I get right to either tell my story and if you get to know me a little bit better , I always have a kind word for somebody or a motivational word for somebody , no matter what , it is right .

Why level to to to engage ? And why would you do that ? Why would you go down there into the mud to fight ? You know that fight .

It's something that you got to , you know , force yourself into , and and sometimes those days are dark . Sometimes those weeks , those months , those years can be dark . But you got to stay focused and you got to keep pushing .

I always tell people I was never the best welder , I was never the best anything , but I had the most drive and I'm also extremely good looking . But aside from those two things , you know it was uh , it was the things that caught me through , because you know , if you've got a bad attitude , it doesn't matter how good of a welder you are .

That's as far as you're going to get man .

So , um , and that's what I'm instilling in my , in my young one now , right Is um , you gotta have a positive attitude , right , um , body language right , people can , can tell right what you're thinking .

If you have poor posture , poor body language , right , keep your shoulders back and your head up Right , even , or most importantly , when you're being challenged in certain situations . That's the most important time to to maintain that composure Right . So yeah , it's important stuff .

Oh , you're only a couple of years younger than me , so I'm . I turned 50 this year . You're going to be 48 . So so at this point , you know you're been it , what's next on the list ?

So stay on top of all that stuff , you know . Building customer relationships , you know being a brand ambassador , as I am here today with you , you know I'm speaking as Ivan , but I'm also speaking from a Ferronius point of view .

Right , that's right , just representing Ferronius in a way that you know encourages people to use our product , to believe in our product . And you know , yeah , just keep on moving with the company and growing as the company grows . We're a subsidiary of an international company that's family owned to this day , which I'm extremely proud of .

And you know , just maintain my position here and grow with the company here in Canada as we continue to grow . We still , as big as we are or big as we're getting in Canada , we still have a long way to go . So there'll be a lot of room here for myself personally and for other people that we hire you know , for growth .

Is there anything you work with in your local area , like what's the kind of stuff that keeps you busy outside of Ferronia ?

Um with Doyle Orange um down at , uh , the Christian Bloor area . So I've been taking my little girl um .

She plays basketball competitively and the more I'm in the gym , the more I'm looking at getting some coaching certificates and get back into the world of coaching , probably some young youngsters and stuff like that Um , probably between the nine and 15-year-old age . That's kind of what I'm looking at right now in terms of what I do outside of work and welding .

You know what I mean , because then you got something to work for , because you don't work just for work . It ain't just about work . Work you got to have , it's a purpose . You know work is like a tool , it's like a wrench . If you don't got a nut to put to turn , what's the point ? Right , I agree , I agree . Alright .

Any shout outs or anything you'd like to say to anybody out there before we end the interview ? I know you threw a few names on your show .

But I also want to shout out my wife and my little girl , aveline , because you guys are the ones that keep me going every day , keep me motivated and inspired and , yeah , I love you guys .

We have some great local chapters in your area too that are always looking for connections , and we always kind of throw leads your way to try to , of course , to get you guys warm . But it's a two-way street . You help us , we help you . You know how it is .

You're more than welcome to come by the office , just like you guys did when you came by man , I'll show you what we have here in the lab , whether it's CMT , some twin stuff . We have lots of interesting processes .

If you're interested in ferronius or or ivan's story , all the information will go up with the podcast . So check out the comments and , speaking of comments , make sure you give us some comments , share and you can write us in anything you'd like , if you've got questions for the guests , questions for us , or if you have any topics that you'd like us to cover .

We're always out there hunting for materials . So we very much appreciate Ivan . Again , thank you very much .

You won't be sorry , fantastic , awesome .

Produced by the CWB Group and presented by Max Horn , this podcast serves to educate and connect the welding community . Please subscribe and thank you for listening .