News about Alumni

Pennsylvania College of Technology recently honored its Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 graduates with student achievement awards.

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In partnership with Pennsylvania College of Technology, Blaise Alexander Family Dealerships has made a significant donation to erect color digital signage along Interstate 180 near the college.

The double-sided, 14-by-48-foot sign – which stands 70 feet high – replaces an existing college-owned sign that is no longer in operation.

Penn College will use the sign to promote academic programs, as well as a range of activities and events, Wildcat Athletics and college-related initiatives.

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Punctuating the ultimate celebration of student achievement, Pennsylvania College of Technology held a dizzying dozen commencement exercises from May 14-16 to provide a memorable occasion for students and their families while adhering to federal and state guidelines. The proceedings – four on Friday, five on Saturday and three on Sunday – simultaneously honored Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 graduates and featured speeches by a rotating trio of class representatives: Joseph M. Morrin, of Morrisville, graphic design; Ethan M. McKenzie, of Muncy, software development and information management; and Olivia C. Ferki, Richboro, plastics and polymer engineering technology. (Each of the three spoke at his or her major’s assigned ceremony; recorded versions of their remarks were rotated among the other nine.)

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Pennsylvania College of Technology bestowed two Distinguished Teaching Awards on faculty during an event held on main campus.

Mark E. Sones, instructor of diesel equipment technology, was presented with the Veronica M. Muzic Master Teacher Award, the highest honor accorded to a faculty member at the college.

Bridget E. Motel, instructor of dental hygiene, received an Excellence in Teaching Award.

Both presentations were made during an Employee Recognition Week event held in Bardo Gymnasium and livestreamed across campus.

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After nearly a quarter century leading Pennsylvania College of Technology, President Davie Jane Gilmour informed the college community Thursday of her intention to retire next year.

Gilmour, who has spent her entire career in higher education at Penn College – 44 years, the last 23 as president – told faculty, staff and stakeholders that she plans to retire in June 2022, to be succeeded by a new leader who will be selected after a nationwide search.

Fittingly, Gilmour also announced plans for a legacy fundraising campaign that will invest in students as they continue to transform tomorrow throughout the workforce, in hopes that her legacy will reflect the boundless opportunity a Penn College education represents for students.

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Philly Shipyard Inc. recently donated welding consumables to Pennsylvania College of Technology for instructional use in the college’s welding program.

The donation includes nine pallets of Lincoln Electric brand welding consumables; Lincoln Electric paid for the freight costs associated with the donation.

Philly Shipyard, a leading U.S. shipbuilder presently pursuing a mix of commercial and government work, expects to hire nearly 200 welders in 2021 to accommodate work on a new project involving four government training vessels for use at the state maritime academies. The donated material had to be replaced with material specific to the company’s new contracts.

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For Thomas L. Snyder, his graduation at Pennsylvania College of Technology on May 16 will mark more than the end of a rigorous academic pursuit. It will close his family’s chapter at the college, which dates to the Kennedy Administration.

The Weedville native’s lineage is linked to the college’s evolution from a renowned postsecondary technical institute to the second community college in Pennsylvania to its current status as a national leader in applied technology education.

Snyder’s maternal grandfather, Thomas E. Foster, earned a machinist certificate from Williamsport Technical Institute in 1962, and his father, Troy L. Snyder, attended Williamsport Area Community College in the mid-1980s, just a few years before it became Penn College, a special mission affiliate of Penn State.

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From the Spring 2021 Penn College Magazine: Extraordinary curiosity led Fletcher Ewing, ’98, from childhood Soap Box Derbies to an innovation-filled career. His latest role is senior mechanical engineer for X, developing robots with the humanlike capacity to learn. Read “Revolutionizing Robotics.”

Nursing alumna Stephanie Suzadail, whose airborne delivery of emergency care is featured in the spring issue of Penn College Magazine, recently established two aptly named funds in support of Pennsylvania College of Technology students.

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Interested in the production of such items as water bottles and eyeglass lenses, but intimidated by the somewhat cryptic vocabulary of the industry? Instructor Joshua J. Rice, a Spring 2013 graduate of Penn College and co-department head for plastics and polymer technology, demystifies the field with a plain-spoken virtual tour of the college’s industry-cherished labs. Join him for a four-minute glimpse at the five processes taught in the School of Engineering Technologies – blow molding, extrusion, injection molding, rotational molding and thermoforming – and the everyday products that result.

From the Spring 2021 Penn College Magazine: Having weathered many challenges herself, Geisinger Life Flight’s Stephanie Suzadail, ’14, loves to provide calm in the center of the storm. Read “A flight nurse’s calling.”

Seven students enrolled in Penn College’s brewing and fermentation science certificate presented their beers to a panel of industry professionals at an evening gathering this week.

Visiting campus to lend their expertise were: John Callahan, brewing manager, D.G. Yuengling & Son Inc.; Tom Clark, owner/brewmaster, Berwick Brewing Co.; Mark Fabrizio, vice president of brewing operations Victory Brewing Co.; Sean Hamilton, brewer at New York Beer Project and a 2019 graduate of Penn College’s brewing and fermentation science program; and Philip Jensen, head distiller, Big Springs Distilling Co. Also serving on the panel was David S. Richards, professor of physics.

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An alumnus’s investment in the next generation of innovators, the literal future of American manufacturing, was spotlighted during the April 27 dedication of the Larry A. Ward Machining Technologies Center at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Last year’s $1 million-plus donation from Ward, a 1966 graduate in engineering drafting technology, monumentally reshaped the expansive laboratory – one of the oldest on campus, dating to the benefactor’s days as a student at Williamsport Technical Institute and Williamsport Area Community College, the institution’s predecessors.

“A strong advocate for the future of manufacturing in America, Larry is committed to enhancing our automated manufacturing and machining curriculum, lab space and opportunities to prepare students for successful and sustaining careers,” college President Davie Jane Gilmour said. “It is this commitment that has transformed our machining lab, but Larry’s generosity does not stop there. He has donated materials and equipment, sponsored a commencement award for mechatronics students, and hired Penn College graduates and interns as his business grew.”

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Get ready for a busy week, students and graduates! Twelve employers, all eager to hire from a wide variety of majors, are headed your way.

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Whether working below ground level or well into the treetops, Michael A. Dincher’s students get to experience the wide scope of arboriculture.

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