News about Automotive

When major engine work is required on a Ford F-Series Super Duty truck, it’s all but necessary to separate the cab from the frame – and that’s just what students in the college’s automotive technology: Ford ASSET emphasis major completed this week. A vehicle owner entering a repair garage might well be shocked to see such a seemingly drastic dissection, but technicians know it’s the key to clearer access and maximum efficiency. Assistant professor Jeffrey M. Januchowski (handling the class while John R. Cuprisin, associate professor, is at a training conference) supervised the intricate work as students made all the requisite disconnections and reconnections involved in properly raising and lowering the cabs on an F-250 and an F-550. Penn College’s two-year Ford ASSET major is a cooperative education program, with eight weeks of laboratory work followed by an internship at a dealership.

College employees rallied to provide nearly 40 educational sessions for middle schoolers from across the region who visited campus on Monday for the college’s twice-a-year Career Day. Facilitated by the college’s College Transitions Office, the event provided 1,267 students with opportunities to explore a wide variety of careers in each of the college’s six academic schools. Visitors included 13 schools and home-schooled students.

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Second-year collision repair majors and students in the automotive technology: Honda PACT program recently visited the Honda Heritage Center and Honda manufacturing facility in Marysville, Ohio, learning about the history of the Honda Motor Co. and its various technologies, as well as how the manufacturing process relates to their curriculum at Penn College. The Heritage Center, a museum showcasing the history of Honda manufacturing in the U.S., includes vehicles from motorcycles and ATVs to passenger cars, race vehicles and jet engines. It also features information about company founder Soichiro Honda, while the Honda manufacturing facility introduced students to vehicle manufacturing from its start as a coil of sheet metal to a finished product driving off the assembly line. The students were accompanied by Loren R. Bruckhart, collision repair instructor, and Joe A. Tavani, Honda PACT instructor. For more about the college’s automotive and collision repair majors, visit the School of Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies.
Photos provided

Members of the Hershey Region of the Antique Automobile Association of America, among the generous champions of Penn College’s automotive restoration technology major, recently returned to main campus as the first stop on this season’s “Point Run” schedule. The group enjoyed a buffet lunch, toured several instructional areas, and met with student members of the Penn College Motorsports Association and the Classic Cruisers Club.

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Twenty-seven members of the Penn College Motorsports Association participated in Friday’s 15th annual Toyota Green Grand Prix, which promotes innovation in sustainable transportation technologies while launching the season-opening weekend at New York’s renowned Watkins Glen International racetrack.

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More than 400 high school students, all enrolled in Penn College classes at their respective high school or career and technology center, visited campus on Friday. A visit to campus is a required part of every course offered through the college’s Penn College NOW dual-enrollment program. The program offers Penn College classes at more than 50 partner secondary-education facilities throughout the state. College Transitions and First Year Initiatives hosts visits for participating schools throughout the year. To ensure that courses offered through Penn College NOW maintain the same rigor as those offered on campus, secondary teachers work with Penn College faculty liaisons who train them to teach the course curriculum, visit each school at least once a year, and grade high school students’ final projects. In addition to hosting Penn College NOW student visits – including a March 19 trip, also documented in this photo gallery – College Transitions and First Year Initiatives conducts frequent group visits for other secondary students, providing college and career exploration, including a campus tour. On April 2, Lycoming Career and Technology Center plans to bring 200 students to campus for sessions with Career Services, the Academic Success Center and more.

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The Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania and the PPL Foundation held a free STEAM Lab at Penn College from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, providing more than 250 girls and young women – from kindergarten through 12th grade – with a hands-on look at Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics pursuits while learning and working with Penn College instructors and students. Attendees worked side-by-side with Penn College faculty/staff and students to earn badges and take part in workshops. Girl Scouts also heard from campus leaders about the future of STEAM and garnered “Spark Curiosity” patches for their participation.

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Penn College restoration and automotive students, joined by faculty and several members of the local Antique Automobile Club of America chapter, enjoyed a Friday visit from the project manager on one of history’s most iconic and beloved vehicles. Charles R. “Chuck” Cantwell Jr., who now lives in Chester County, shared an hourlong summary of his role in developing the street and racing versions of the Mustang GT350 for Carroll Shelby. Combining a substantial slideshow of historic photos with an anecdotal presentation that only an insider could deliver, Cantwell – co-author of “Shelby Mustang GT350: My Years Designing, Testing and Racing Carroll’s Legendary Mustangs” – regaled his audience with a colorful recap of Shelby American’s creation, from primitive mockup, through test-track experimentation, to cultural phenomenon. “You never know where your career will take you, I can tell you that!” said Cantwell, who went on to work for Roger Penske before eventually retiring from Lockheed Martin. “People are often asked in job interviews, ‘Where do you picture yourself five years from now?’ and the correct answer should be, ‘I don’t know.’ When I was working for the Allison aviation division of General Motors, I would never have known that, in five years, I’d be in L.A. working on a special racing program. I couldn’t have predicted that, so keep your options open and be ready for opportunities.”

A pair of scholarships established by a Lancaster County excavating and paving firm will assist students enrolled in diesel and automotive majors at Pennsylvania College of Technology with their education costs.

B.R. Kreider & Son Inc., based in Manheim, has funded the “Pin Oak Service Center, a Sister Company of B.R. Kreider & Son, Inc. Diesel Technology Scholarship,” and the “Pin Oak Service Center, Automotive Technology Scholarship.”

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State Sen. Patrick M. Browne, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, visited Pennsylvania College of Technology on Thursday.

Browne, who represents the 16th District – which includes Allentown and other municipalities within Lehigh County – came to campus after presenting an election and legislative update at a breakfast sponsored by the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.

He was invited by fellow Appropriations Committee member Sen. Gene Yaw, who also serves as chairman of the Penn College Board of Directors. Yaw also hosted the Chamber legislative update event, held at the Genetti Hotel in Williamsport.

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Students in a variety of automotive and collision repair majors at Pennsylvania College of Technology will be eligible for financial assistance from a second scholarship fund established by the Susquehanna Valley Corvette Club.

Annual awards from the Susquehanna Valley Corvette Club Foundation Endowed Scholarship Fund will be made to first-year students enrolled full time in the college’s automotive technology, automotive service sales and marketing, collision repair technology, or automotive restoration technology major.

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For the third time in its history, Penn College hosted the annual conference of the North American Council of Automotive Teachers. Returning to the 1998 and 2008 site of their organization’s official get-together, more than 200 NACAT members from across the United States and Canada convened for the July 16-19 event. During their stay, participants had their pick among more than 110 informative and topical sessions; a variety of family activities and evening diversions – including a barbecue, Valve Cover Races and a closing banquet – supplemented each day’s instruction.

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A Pennsylvania College of Technology student has received one of a dozen $2,500 tuition scholarships awarded by Federal-Mogul Motorparts through its Garage Gurus technical education network.

Among the 2018-19 beneficiaries is Joseph R. Waldeyer, of Manasquan, New Jersey, enrolled in Penn College’s four-year automotive technology management major.

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Penn College welcomed nearly 100 potential students and their guests Friday for the season’s second Summer Preview Day. The visitors explored instructional labs; enjoyed campus and housing tours; and connected with Admissions, Student Activities, Athletics, Financial Aid and other resources. The final Summer Preview Day will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 28.

Mother Nature hampered the quest of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Baja SAE team, but she couldn’t prevent a dynamic performance by the students at the recent Society of Automotive Engineers international competition in Pittsburg, Kansas.

Penn College posted a school-best three top 10 finishes in dynamic events, besting the likes of Ohio State, Michigan State, Georgia Tech, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa, Oklahoma and Clemson in the process.

“I’m very proud of how both the students and car performed,” said John G. Upcraft, instructor of manufacturing and machining and the team’s adviser since its inception in 2005. “The results validate the hard work and countless hours the students dedicated to designing, manufacturing and testing the car.”

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