Millennium Magazine_8th Ed

14 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine ARCHITECTURE, CONSTRUCTION AND REAL ESTATE Reflecting on his career trajectory, Mr. Donald recalls achieving his journeyman card and becoming a certified weld inspector, which has an 80% failure rate, were major accomplishments. He credits much of his success to his mentors, including Pat O’Neal and Miles O’Hara, under whom he served as an apprentice and gained valuable insight and experience. Patrick O’Hara was invaluable uponMr. Donald entering NIPSCO’s testing field with teaching him with his vast knowledge of weld inspection. Fromthesemen, Mr. Donald grew a desire to give back and has spent four years volunteering at variouswelding schools. Looking ahead, Mr. Donald plans to continue working in the shop and expanding his teaching courses. Notably, he makes it his goal to ensure that his fellow welders and upper management know that he is available 24 hours per day, as he is always ready to handle a situation. In his spare time, Mr. Donald enjoys fishing and gardening, as well as traveling with his wife Mary. I ntrigued by welding as a teenager, Robert E. Donald Jr.’s family friend, Pat O’Neal, took him under his wing and taught him the trade. Striking his first arc at the age of 14, he took vocational classes during high school, which vastly improved his skills. His natural curiosity of the melting of metals and the field of metallurgy led him to become a distinguished welder of the Midwest for more than 20 years. Today, he is a certified welding inspector by the American Welding Society and a certified visual inspector by the American National Society of Nondestructive Testing. Since 2020, Mr. Donald has excelled in his role as a senior technical trainer of gas welding at the Northern Indiana Public Service Company’s Welding Training Center, where he formerly served as a technical trainer for seven years. Specializing in pipefitting, welding and metallurgy, he oversees a crew of two welding inspectors alongside managing the weld training school. Prior, he was a pipefitter for UA Local 190 in Michigan from 2000 to 2013, and a welder within the gas industry and oil fields in Texas. ROBERT E. DONALD JR. SENIOR TECHNICAL TRAINER Northern Indiana Public Service Company Stevensville, MI