News about Alumni

An entrepreneurial alumnus – a titan of the packaging industry who generously endowed the Larry A. Ward Machining Technologies Center at Pennsylvania College of Technology – returned to campus Wednesday to share his insight and inspiration during a pair of afternoon presentations in College Avenue Labs.

Ward passionately spoke to 17 high school teachers and counselors attending Teacher Externship Camp, a National Science Foundation-funded activity that provides participants with a real-world view of the advanced manufacturing field. He also met with young men and women in the Thingamajig Fabricators pre-college program, co-sponsored by the Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajig Foundation and PMMI, which introduces students to the breadth of manufacturing from brainstorming an idea to selling an end product.

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The Pennsylvania College of Technology Athletics Department has announced its 2021 Hall of Fame Class: Kendel F. Baier, Scott E. Kennell, Jamie L. Steer and James C. Woodring.

The four inductees will officially enter the Hall of Fame on Friday, Sept. 24, in a 6 p.m. ceremony during Homecoming and Parent & Family weekend.

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Ryan M. Burton punched his ticket on the proverbial train to nowhere. He just didn’t know it at the time.

For years, unhealthy pursuits in the midst of unemployment blurred the bleak destination awaiting and provided distractions from a life spiraling out of control.

The intervention of individuals he respected helped Burton eventually realize his destructive route. He accepted the challenge to turn his life around for the sake of his family and himself.

“I needed to jump off this train somewhere,” Burton said. “I didn’t know where I was going to land.”

Fortunately, he landed at Pennsylvania College of Technology. A hard-earned associate degree in electronics launched a rewarding career.

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A full-service commercial construction company, founded in 1911 and based in Lancaster County, has endowed a scholarship to assist Pennsylvania College of Technology students in a variety of related majors.

The Warfel Construction Endowed Scholarship is focused on students pursuing degrees in building construction technology, concrete science technology, construction management and heavy construction equipment technology: operator emphasis.

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The recently revamped Art on Campus website is now live.

The Art on Campus collection at Pennsylvania College of Technology – which has tripled since the first online database was created in 2005 – serves to enhance the physical and aesthetic campus environment, and offer opportunities for personal growth, social awareness and cultural diversity. The collection includes over 300 works of art in a wide range of media by professional artists. This diverse collection has been acquired through both purchase and donation, and is on display in all academic and administrative buildings.

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Penn College’s “My Tomorrow” program (June 21-24 and June 28-July 1) opened middle-schoolers’ minds to a variety of vocational possibilities through hands-on activities and faculty-led sessions. The initiative, sponsored by the Soars Family, exposed students to a number of prospective careers – such as engineering, business and hospitality, the arts, and health sciences – as well as giving them a jump on charting their paths to success and satisfaction.

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George “Herman” Logue Jr. and George Logue III recently donated an entire brewing system and accessories to the brewing and fermentation science program at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

The equipment, which represents the functional design of large industrial brewing systems, will be used by the college for instructional purposes in its brewing & fermentation science certificate major.

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The 35th Annual Penn College Foundation Golf Classic, featuring inspiring blind golfer Jeremy Poincenot, winner of three World Blind Golf Championships and eight National Blind Golf Championships, recently raised $134,000 for student scholarships.

With this year’s total, the Penn College Foundation Golf Classic Scholarship Fund now exceeds $1.8 million. Proceeds from the annual Golf Classic and accumulated investment income created the endowed scholarship fund, one of the foundation’s largest.

“Golf Classic participants are part of the legacy that has built this important source of scholarship aid,” President Davie Jane Gilmour said. “Participation directly impacts the lives of Penn College students as they pursue an applied technology education and prepare to become leaders in their chosen professions – meeting the challenges of their industries with unrivaled skill and confidence.”

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A recent graduate of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s aviation program has been awarded a Helicopter Association International scholarship that provides a tuition waiver for a manufacturer training school and a stipend to offset expenses.

John J. Doherty, of Lebanon, who earned a bachelor’s degree in aviation maintenance technology in May, received a first-place Bill Sanderson Aviation Maintenance Technology award from HAI. The scholarship includes passes to next year’s HAI Heli-Expo, to be held March 7-10 in Dallas.

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As if the industrious fulfillment of her proud Pennsylvania College of Technology days isn’t a sufficient bequest, Kate M. Ruggiero punctuated her academic performance with a larger-than-life mic drop: impressively taking the lead in repainting a single-engine Cessna 175C airplane donated to the Lumley Aviation Center eight years ago.

Ruggiero earned an associate degree in aviation technology from Penn College in December, crossing the stage in a COVID-delayed ceremony on May 15, and will move from Easton to Michigan in early July to start a job as an aircraft paint specialist – working on corporate and private jets for Duncan Aviation in Battle Creek.

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More than a half-dozen Pre-College Programs attracted a knowledge-hungry host of teenagers to Penn College’s campuses in recent days, the season opener for high schoolers’ exposure to next-level academics. Campers were engaged and enlightened among the week’s bountiful offerings: Architecture Odyssey, Automotive, Aviation, Engineering, Future Restaurateurs, Health Careers and Information Technology. A second week – inviting more students to test the waters of collegiate opportunity through hands-on learning – will begin July 18.

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Growing up, Christopher M. Hile often shadowed his father into the family’s woodshop above their three-car garage. He watched and assisted his dad, an accomplished woodworker, restore countless pieces of furniture and build requested items, like deli racks for grocery stores.

That introduction to design and production optimization served as a window to his future – a future shaped by a hands-on Pennsylvania College of Technology education and dedicated to designing life-affirming products.

Hile, a Boyertown native, is a mechanical designer for MPR Associates Inc., a multidiscipline, specialty engineering services and consulting firm based in Alexandria, Virginia. MPR boasts clients in fields ranging from power and energy to health and life sciences.

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A partnership with ABB, a leading global technology company, is bringing an industrial robot and software licenses to Pennsylvania College of Technology for instructional use in manufacturing engineering programs.

ABB, based in Zurich, Switzerland, with U.S. operations headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, is providing i$150,000 worth of software licenses for offline programming of its YuMi robot, which the college has purchased. This eliminates the need for programming at the robot itself using the teach pendant. The software can communicate with all ABB robots to download and upload files. Software benefits include freeing the robot for production or maintenance and allowing multiple programmers simultaneously to create and edit programs.  In manufacturing, today, most robot programs are created offline and “touched up” at production lines.

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Catcher Brittan C. Kittle, recently added to the Williamsport Crosscutters roster after a standout performance as a Penn College Wildcat, is already a fan favorite among the Bowman Field faithful after only three games behind the plate. The most decorated baseball player in the institution’s history, Kittle – a Millville resident who graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in plastics and polymer engineering technology – left the college as its all-time leader in hits (169), home runs (22), runs scored (113) and doubles (43). Kittle is profiled in Thursday’s Williamsport Sun-Gazette, the morning after he went 2 for 2 against the Frederick Keys. The Crosscutters play in the MLB Draft League in its inaugural season at the historic local ballpark, where Kittle played home games with his Chris Howard-coached college squad.

After a year’s absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Baja SAE team returned to action with a flourish, posting four top-10 results at Baja SAE Louisville.

The recent Society of Automotive Engineers competition – hosted by the University of Louisville – required students to design and build a single-seat, all-terrain sporting vehicle to meet various challenges. Penn College topped several prominent colleges and universities in the 78-car field, including Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Auburn, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.

In dynamic events, Penn College finished first (acceleration), fourth (suspension) and eighth (maneuverability) before capping the competition with a third-place showing in the endurance race, considered Baja SAE’s toughest test.

The overall performance was Penn College’s best in the team’s 16-year history.

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