News about Alumni

The Student & Administrative Services Center at Pennsylvania College of Technology will soon bear the name of retiring President Davie Jane Gilmour.

The college’s Board of Directors convened a special meeting to approve the action at a gala event honoring Gilmour’s 24-year presidency. The board also granted emeritus status to Gilmour, who retires June 30.

The Student & Administrative Services Center, known in campus shorthand as “the SASC,” houses offices for student services such as Admissions, Financial Aid, the Registrar, Veterans & Military, the LEAP Center (first-year student assistance) and more. The upper floors of the three-story facility, which opened in 2003, includes spaces for People & Culture (formerly Human Resources), Financial Operations, Information Technology Services, Public Relations & Marketing and executive offices, including the President’s Office and Academic Affairs.

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Ready to see what hands-on learning is all about? Here’s a teasing glimpse of the action that’s set to unfold in the Pennsylvania College of Technology episode of The College Tour, produced nationally and streaming on Amazon Prime when Season Five drops on Aug. 31:

Now that your interest is piqued, watch the full episode at Penn College’s College Tour website. Filmed over five days during the spring semester and edited into 27 brisk minutes, the video features 10 standout students in dedicated segments: Ashlee Felix, human services & restorative justice (Business, Arts & Sciences); Caila N. Flanagan, who earned two business degrees (Wildcat Life); Alejandro F. Huaman, a building science & sustainable design: architectural technology concentration alumnus (Engineering Technologies); Dacia J. James, dental hygiene (Nursing & Health Sciences); Jesse D. Laird V, a nursing student and ROTC cadet (Commitment to Service); Danielle E. Malesky, construction management (Momentum Guaranteed); Maggie J. Mangene, a softball player and heating, ventilation & air conditioning design technology student (Stay Wild); Wesley S. McCray, an engineering design technology grad (Future Made by Hand); Kathryn A. Plankenhorn, physician assistant studies (Explore Campus & Beyond); and automotive technology management alumnus Dhruv Singh (Come Ready, Leave Prepared). After hearing their stories and getting the inside track on campus life, we’re sure you’ll agree with host Alex Boylan that “There’s so much to love here!”

Dylan S. Klemas, a May civil engineering technology graduate and face-off midfielder while a member of the Wildcat men’s lacrosse team, proudly wore number 9 to honor an uncle who played for the Welsh national team. A new video gives viewers the opportunity to hear his story and learn what he loves about the tight-knit community he found at Penn College. “It’s put me in a great position. I have a job already lined up when I graduate (he has since assumed responsibilities as an assistant project manager at Berg Construction in Morgantown) and I haven’t looked back,” says Klemas, who did the hard work necessary to balance academics and athletics – and thrive at both. “It’s busy, it’s very doable. It’s actually made it a lot better because it’s taught me a lot more time management. The school puts a lot of resources out there to help us, whether it’s the Tutoring Center (or) a lot of late-night study hours with the team. It’s easy when you have a team of 43 guys that are all your good friends!”

Recent graduates of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s landscape/plant production technology program were chosen for both of this year’s Fred Winter Memorial Awards for Excellence in Horticulture from the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture.

Rebecca Cornish, of Lewisburg, and Faith E. Mitchell, of Sunbury, will each receive $1,500 in conjunction with the awards, established as a long-term way to honor one of PSPA’s longtime members. The applications from Cornish and Mitchell “rose to the top of the pile” as the selection committee’s four judges sorted through a slate of excellent candidates, a society official told the winners.

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Daun Williamson, who graduated from Penn College last month with an associate degree in building construction technology, will conduct a Vinyl Siding Institute installer training later this month at the college’s Clean Energy Center.

Williamson, the only person to hold three VSI certifications – as an installer trainee, an installer and a trainer – will instruct the course from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, June 29, at 2245 Reach Road. She was among the college’s first group of students to be certified as installers last fall.

“For me, teaching vinyl siding is a great way to create my own unique career path,” she said, “certifying others in the industry and becoming a greater asset to local contractors and our community.”

Those interested in attending should consult the course flyer: VSI flyer

Thirty-four Pennsylvania College of Technology students – half of whom subsequently earned degrees last month – recently attained International Codes Council certification as Building Code Specialists.

The students comprised three sections of construction technology instructor Harry W. Hintz Jr.’s Codes in Construction class during the spring semester. To earn certificates, students had to score 70% or better on a 60-question, 2-hour-allotted, written examination on the building provisions of “The International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings.”

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Meet Tucker D. Phillippe-Johansson, a member of the men’s tennis team who recently graduated with a bachelor’s in residential construction technology & management and an associate degree in building construction technology. “When I’m serving, usually I think about where I want to hit the ball before I do it,” the Mattituck, New York, resident says in a new Wildcat Spotlight video. “I kind of clear my mind so I don’t really think about anything else but the shot that I’m hitting.” It’s that singular focus that brought him success on and off the court, allowing him to compete collegiately and guaranteeing an immersive learning experience.

Mark R. Bierly and Shawn R. Simmons, both of whom graduated last month in automotive technology: Honda PACT emphasis, take viewers on a tour of Penn College’s automotive majors. In a newly released video, shot in their dwindling time as students, the pair discuss why they chose Penn College and what they like most about their program. “I knew that I wanted to do something that was hands-on and not sit behind a desk all day,” Simmons says. “When I found out about the eight-week classes and the eight-week paid internships, I was sold!” Bierly adds. They also show off the labs, explain the various degree options, and talk about the ease of leveling up from certificate to associate to bachelor’s.

Kelly T. Bidlespacher has been named director of nursing, bachelor’s and graduate degrees, at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Bidlespacher, a registered nurse, began her Penn College experience as an adjunct faculty member in 2019 and served as the clinical director of nursing at the college from 2020-22.

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Following a two-year pandemic pause, the annual Tunnel to Towers Tower Climb NYC resumed at One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan on Sunday. Returning to climb 104 floors and 2,226 stairs to the One World Observatory for the fourth time, Andrew Zimmerman, (’00, landscape/nursery technology), was joined by his mom, June Kilgus Zimmerman, (’71, liberal arts), ascending the tower for her first time. Andrew ran the stairs in 21 minutes, 32 seconds, while June walked her climb in 47 minutes, 2 seconds. They were joined by friends Daniel Bresticker and his wife, Lauren McCole, both running the stairs in under 28 minutes. Participating as Team Lewisburg/Williamsport, the quartet raised $3,495 for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Since 2015, the foundation has held the Tower Climb to celebrate the lives and sacrifice of 9/11 first responders and – through multiple events – raised more than $250 million to provide mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children, as well as custom-designed smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders.
Photos provided by Tom Zimmerman, faculty athletic representative

The list of graduates for the Spring 2022 semester at Pennsylvania College of Technology has been released.

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The Spring 2022 dean’s list has been issued at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

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Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Schneebeli Earth Science Center holds such a special place for alumna Elizabeth M. Getchen that, when it came time to arrange her wedding flowers, no other venue could come close to warmly honoring the occasion.

Getchen holds two associate degrees from the college – floral design/interior plantscape (2007) and ornamental horticulture: landscape technology emphasis (2009) – and obtained administrative permission to return to the Allenwood-area campus in advance of her nuptials.

She and fiancé Ian J. Mowatt are to be married Saturday, May 21, at Sacred Oak Vista in Jersey Shore.

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Haley M. Kalvin-Gold, who earned an associate degree in architectural technology during the spring semester, is profiled in a new video posted to WVIA’s “Careers That Work” playlist. Kalvin-Gold, an architectural technician with Anthony H. Visco Jr. Architects in Williamsport, takes viewers through a day in the life of a drafter – a career that supports architecture, civil engineering, electrical work, manufacturing and construction.

“We do a range of things,” says Kalvin-Gold, who will return to campus in the fall in pursuit of a bachelor’s in building science and sustainable design: architectural technology concentration. “From projects and visits and field measuring to drafting, modeling in 3D and 2D, and creating hand sketches.”

Visco, who also appears in the video, earned his associate degree in architectural technology from Penn College predecessor Williamsport Area Community College and is a member of the School of Engineering Technologies’ Architectural Technology Advisory Committee.

More than 40 Pennsylvania College of Technology students obtained valuable industry certifications related to engineering design in 2021-22, including one student who became the first in school history to earn certified SolidWorks expert status.

Benson P. Weaver, an engineering design technology major from Lititz, passed four advanced topic tests (sheet metal, drawing tools, surfacing and weldments) before successfully completing the most challenging SolidWorks exam: Certified SolidWorks Expert in Mechanical Design.

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