Mr. Miles Tilley

Miles Tilley - Welding
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Miles Tilley - Welding

In high school, in Flat Rock, Michigan, Miles Tilley watched his older brother take welding classes.He saw him earn a scholarship, he saw what kinds of things he was making and then the money he began earning as he entered the workforce.Tilley thought that he could do that too."I feel that I am better with my hands than with my brain," says Tilley.

Tilley picked up welding from an instructor in Flat Rock and excelled.He earned a scholarship from the American Welding Society, came in second in the secondary level of SkillsUSA welding competition and began his career at WCC."I talked with instructors Bill Figg and Clyde Hall and they helped a lot," says Tilley."They led me in a good direction."

Tilley and his brother conducted their own friendly welding competitions in their parent's garage.They made a staircase and other repairs.It wasn't long before the younger Tilley surpassed his brother."My parents are very excited that I am here at WCC.The first semester was hard for me, but I figured that I needed an education to back up my welding skill," says Tilley.

Tilley doesn't just have what it takes to be a welder; he has what it takes to be the world's best welder.He certainly has some world-class jobs under his belt.He was involved with welding projects on the Zilwaukee Bridge.

He has won competition after competition on the regional, state and national levels and will have to cross one more hurdle before he will represent the United States in the international level of the SkillsUSA Competition.Over 30 countries compete in this prestigious competition with the United States placing first overall most often, says Tilley."WCC has prepared me well," says Tilley."I might even want to teach here.The facilities, budget and faculty make this an excellent program."

It has also given him the confidence to represent the United States next year."I want to go to Switzerland and be number one," says Tilley.
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Miles Tilley - Welding

The only thing Miles Tilley was nervous about as he entered the International Welding Competition in Switzerland was the language barrier.

At 19, Mr. Tilley of South Rockwood represented the United States in the 22-hour long competition last month.He faced competitors from 25 countries and took the bronze, third place award.

With the bronze medal, the 2001 graduate of Airport High School also won a $40,000 scholarship.A student at Washtenaw Community College, he plans to transfer to Ferris State University, Big Rapids, to earn a degree in welding engineering.

Welding - Miles Tilley, Washtenaw Community College, MI

"Miles has gifted hands and great eyes.
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The young competitor under discussion, the one with the hot hands and strong eyes, is Miles Tilley, and in all likelihood you've never heard of him.

Tilley is not a basketball player or quarterback or even a pole-vaulter.

What he does is weld.

And his mastery of the art of fusing metal -- and of a multitude of technical processes -- has made his name buzz in welding circles.

In April, Tilley, a stocky 19-year-old student at Washtenaw Community College, won the U.S. Open of welding at Cobo Center, a four-day competition that finds the best young welder in the nation from a finalist field of nine.

Next month, he'll head to Switzerland for an international competition that will pit him against welders from Europe and Asia.

That Tilley won is not a fluke -- the vocational training programs at Flat Rock High and Washtenaw Community College are probably the best in the nation, according to Gary Jurik, a welding expert at Lincoln Electric, a leading welding manufacturing firm in Cleveland.
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When Tilley first enrolled in a welding vocational program at Flat Rock High, and then at Washtenaw Community College, his goal was a union card -- a ticket to steady work, a good income, a stable life.

His older brother is a welder.His father works in the automotive industry.He expected his life to follow a certain pattern.

Becoming the best welder in the world wasn't on the agenda.Nor was earning a college degree.

"No one in my family has graduated from college," says Tilley.But as Tilley competed, and won, he realized he could win a $40,000 scholarship.Then he decided to win it.

To do that, he gave up almost everything -- social life, college courses, paying job -- but welding.
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Still even Tilley is ambivalent about his chosen profession: He hopes to study his way out of welding leathers and helmet and into "the gravy side of it," where he can wear dress shoes and keep clean.

In the heart of the Rust Belt, 100 years after the Ford Model A, Miles Tilley is re-enacting a classic Southeastern Michigan story -- using his hands and the grit of manufacturing to tackle the future.