A Chance Discovery Turns Sparks into a Career

If you want to be inspired by a remarkable Texan who found welding by chance, turned learning the trade and inspection into an impressive career, look no further than Daniela Lowry. She became a Certified Welding Inspector (CWI) and world traveler. 

“I found welding by accident,” Lowry recalled. “Being completely rudderless as a youth, I signed up for blacksmithing, art metals, and introduction to jewelry at Austin Community College [Austin, Tex.]. My jewelry class was canceled [in] the first week of class, and I filled it with the only available course — introduction to shielded metal arc welding [SMAW]. The second I saw the professor strike an arc, I was 100% sold. Working with molten metal was the coolest thing I’d ever seen.”

She went on to take every welding class she could, including orbital tube welding, and her positive experiences in those classes led to many meaningful professions.

Inspection Attention Leads to Rewarding Work and Degrees

Lowry’s SMAW professor, Dr. Warren Donworth, encouraged her to take his nondestructive examination (NDE) courses, including ultrasonic testing (UT) and CWI preparation.

“In these classes, I was able to combine my love of books and [my] critical eye and apply them to the world of welding. I could never have imagined a happier fit,” Lowry said.

Her first job in welding was as an inspector at a semiconductor fabrication facility, inspecting orbital tube welds. “I got to climb a maze of piping every day and apply all that I was learning in school,” Lowry recalled. “The physical nature of the work along with the mental requirements of applying drawings, specifications, and standards made it the most rewarding job I had ever had.”

She enjoyed working so much that completing an associate in applied science (AAS) in welding technology/code welding degree took a while, but she achieved that distinction, followed by an AAS in welding technology/welding inspection, both from Austin Community College.

Mentoring Helps on the Way to CWI Success

When asked about her path toward becoming a CWI, Lowry said, “I am a book nerd. I’ve always enjoyed identification books, applying descriptions and pictures to identify and learn about the natural world. I found code books to be a continuation of this hobby.”

Dr. Donworth welcomed Lowry into the welding world, and each of his classes fascinated her. Professor Tim Strouse also motivated her not to stagnate as a student and encouraged her to join the workforce as soon as possible. Their courses, leadership, and guidance springboarded her into the industry, and she gained the experience and tenacity necessary to take the CWI exam, which she passed in December 2008.

She became a NACE Level I coating inspector and UT/magnetic particle testing/liquid penetrant testing Level II certified technician.

Career Accomplishments

Through the years, Lowry has had the pleasure of inspecting a wide variety of projects.

She later worked for a failure analysis firm as a laboratory technician and manager. There, she analyzed failed and intact samples; worked in a machine shop and wet lab dissecting and analyzing metal components from different industries; and conducted field visits to pulp and paper facilities, electric utility plants, and chemical plants for in-situ replication and inspections. She also climbed inside boilers, tanks, and drums to understand where laboratory samples were sent from and later became a quality assurance manager at a steel pole manufacturer, where she administered the quality management system and AISC certification.

Present-Day Practices

During the past eight years with Austin Energy — which has more than 1900 employees serving over 500,000 customers and two local power plants — Lowry has been involved with a wide range of projects. For the company’s electric service delivery department, she has inspected transmission poles in the black and galvanized conditions. She has also overseen steam turbine eddy current and wet fluorescent magnetic particle testing. In addition, she has inspected numerous large-scale replacements, including heat recovery steam generator panels with hundreds of finned tubes, headers, and collectors, steam drum safety valves, and routine boiler tube repairs, and has recently planned and inspected gas turbine exhaust silencer baffle repairs and boiler external high-energy piping assessments.

“While I love all NDE methods, my favorite is visual inspection. I have found it to be the most vital to ensuring good results — especially when used properly — before, during, and after welding,” Lowry said.

Currently, she’s a program consultant at Austin Energy. Her responsibilities include performing inspections on new and existing equipment, recommending repairs and setting reinspection intervals, planning inspections and welding projects, and overseeing in-house and contracted labor. She also creates and reviews documentation, including contracts, drawings, procedures, and specifications from internal and external engineering groups as well as vendors and contractors, and travels to repair shops and fabrication facilities to oversee and audit work on new or existing equipment.

Looking Ahead

Lowry is always excited to learn new things and consider the next steps to take in her career. She hopes to pursue phased array and radiography and is also interested in certifications such as the National Board Pressure Equipment Inspector, API 510, and API 570.

When Lowry’s not working or participating in AWS Central Texas Section activities, she has a host of hobbies, including landscaping, traveling, scuba diving, hiking, reading fiction, bird watching, snorkeling, and making new connections. So far, she’s been to 21 countries and 49 U.S. states. Scuba diving in Okinawa, Japan, and hiking Mount Fuji are among a couple of bucket list items she will be completing by the end of 2025.

Lowry’s advice for individuals considering joining the inspection industry?

“I encourage you to find someone in your life who thinks you are a better person than you are, prove them right, and then strive to become better than that. Make them and yourselves proud of your actions and outcomes.”

KRISTIN CAMPBELL (kcampbell@aws.org) is managing editor of Inspection Trends.