Three partners in a corporate aircraft have donated it to Pennsylvania College of Technology for instructional use in the college’s aviation maintenance program.
The Bombardier (formerly Canadair) CL-600 Challenger jet, valued at nearly $825,000, is being donated by Ira M. Lubert, Anthony F. Misitano and Judith M. von Seldeneck.
Four Pennsylvania College of Technology students were recently awarded aviation scholarships: two from the Helicopter Foundation International/Helicopter Association International and two from Women in Aviation International.
All four are enrolled in the four-year aviation maintenance technology major, based at Penn College’s Lumley Aviation Center in Montoursville.
Levi Schappel, who holds two degrees from Penn College – aviation technology (2012) and aviation maintenance technology (2014) – is among the Lycoming Engines employees interviewed for an eight-page article in the April edition of AOPA Pilot. Schappel supervises production of the high-performance Thunderbolt aircraft engine at Lycoming’s Williamsport plant, a custom manufacturing job that puts into daily practice his hands-on education at the college’s Lumley Aviation Center. “When you go to a race or an airshow and you see how much is demanded of these engines, it’s humbling,” Schappell said. “It makes you focus on doing everything you can to make sure they’re as good as they can possibly be.” The article, shared with permission of the publisher, is provided here: “Made to Order”
Christopher M. Gayman, a graduate of Pennsylvania College of Technology and OEM sales manager for Lycoming Engines, received an Alumni of the Year Award at Thursday’s 19th annual Education Celebration hosted by the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.
The award – part of an event that recognizes the essential collaboration among school districts, colleges, and business and industry – is given to a graduate who has made a significant contribution to the quality of life in Lycoming County, has excelled in his or her own profession, and is active in the community.
On Tuesday evening, in a cooperative effort between the School of Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies and the School of Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies, students enrolled in Ergonomics and Kinesiology (BIX220) explored several aircraft at the Lumley Aviation Center. Jason P. Zielewicz teaches the course, which is a study of human factors as they relate to design. The industrial design students sat on the flight deck of Penn College’s Boeing 727 to delve into the complexity of its controls and how they correspond to the pilot’s seating position. The students also got a look at the flight deck of the school’s Dassault Falcon 20 business jet, and viewed several smaller airplanes and helicopters. They will use the knowledge gained at the aviation center to refine their design-concept assignments. At the end of the course, the students will build a full-scale design of an automobile, aircraft or spacecraft, and test it using anthropometric people.
Information and photo by Thomas D. Inman, associate professor of aviation
Local pilot Robert E. Dressler Jr. brought his Cessna Citation I jet to Penn College’s Lumley Aviation Center on Tuesday morning. The day was rainy, so students pulled the aircraft partially into the hangar, to avoid getting the plane’s interior wet. Dressler visited with students in Thomas D. Inman’s Avionics Maintenance Theory I class, who are studying High Frequency Communication systems as part of the aviation maintenance technology bachelor’s degree curriculum. Dressler tuned up his HF and began listening to air traffic in the Gulf of Mexico; later, he tuned to a reference station in Boulder, Colorado. One at a time, students came aboard to examine the panel, listen to the radio and ask questions about the avionics. Students, in turn, gave Dressler a tour of the college-owned Dassault Falcon 20.
Photos by Inman, associate professor of aviation
Nine students from Pennsylvania College of Technology’s SkillsUSA team earned medals in six categories – three silvers and three bronzes – during the National Leadership and Skills Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, from June 24-29.
“The students represented themselves and the college well, and it showed with the number of medals we returned home with,” said SkillsUSA adviser James N. Colton II, an assistant professor of welding. “I look forward to next year and the students that we will have competing.”
A dozen residential Pre-College Programs and a daytime Creative Art Camp brought hundreds of young women and men to Penn College’s campuses in mid-June, providing hands-on entry to the myriad career opportunities reflected in the institution’s postsecondary curriculum. Keeping campers (and PCToday photographers) busy in recent days were these fun learning opportunities, some of which involved culminating projects: Architecture Odyssey, Autism Spectrum Post-Secondary Interest Experience (ASPIE), Automotive Restoration, Aviation, Building Construction (new this year), Creative Art Camp, Engineering, Future Restaurateurs, Graphic Design Summer Studio, Grow & Design Horticulture, Health Careers, Information Technology and SMART (Science and Math in Real-world Technologies) Girls.
A Sikorsky VH-60N White Hawk helicopter, part of Marine Helicopter Squadron One, was on standby for President Trump’s visit to Montoursville on Monday night, housed temporarily in the hangar at Penn College’s Lumley Aviation Center. Marine One, the call sign used whenever the commander in chief is aboard one of the fleet of helicopters, departed on Tuesday. Marine One accompanies the president on travels in the U.S. and abroad. The Marine One detachment officer-in-charge offered access and granted permission for the college to publish photos.
Take a minute to dive into what it takes to be an aviation technician with this snapshot of the Aviation Basic Electricity II course, a requirement for Penn College’s bachelor’s degree in aviation maintenance technology. Hour by hour, through hands-on activities and engaging classroom discussions, complex theories and ideas solidify into reality. In state-of-the-art labs, students in AVI 135 train with equipment used by the pros. They even build their own pocket-sized oscilloscopes to visualize electrical signals. With all that training – summarized in a video narrated by student Kate M. Ruggiero, of Easton – it’s easy to see why Penn College’s aviation graduates are real-world ready and sought after to fill high-demand positions as skilled aircraft mechanics.
A Pennsylvania College of Technology student has received a scholarship from Women in Aviation International, the first time in 15 years that the award went to an aviation maintenance major.
Kate M. Ruggiero, of Easton, a freshman in the college’s four-year aviation maintenance technology program, was recently awarded an Elisha Hall Memorial Scholarship worth $2,000.
Three Pennsylvania College of Technology students, all enrolled in the four-year aviation maintenance technology major, have received scholarships from Helicopter Foundation International/Helicopter Association International.
Sophomore Cody C. Bentzel, of Williamsport, and junior Ethan J. Mutschler, of Mifflinburg, were awarded first- and third-place Bill Sanderson Aviation Maintenance Technology scholarships, respectively, that provide a tuition waiver for a helicopter manufacturer training school and a stipend to offset expenses.
Building construction has been added to the abounding schedule of pre-college initiatives offered at Pennsylvania College of Technology, hands-on summer activities that mirror the nationally renowned opportunities afforded postsecondary students.
“Our Pre-College Programs offer living and learning experiences in which students have opportunities to explore unique academic interests in a state-of-the-art environment,” said Deborah B. Wescott, manager of conference and guest relations. “It’s a chance to work and make connections with industry leaders, meet and mingle with your peers, and establish a path that could lead to all sorts of future possibilities.”
The signup deadline is May 31 for the institution’s 12 residential programs and its one day camp.
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.
A second gift of $500,000 from the Tamaqua-based John E. Morgan Foundation has boosted an endowed scholarship fund at Pennsylvania College of Technology to more than $1 million.
The John E. Morgan Scholarship gives first preference to graduates of Tamaqua Area High School who are pursuing “a degree that is not readily available from other institutions, at a comparable price, within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
Examples of such programs offered at Penn College include, but are not limited to, culinary arts and systems, web and interactive media, building science and sustainable design, health information management, industrial design, plastics and polymer engineering technology, emergency management technology, and aviation maintenance technology.