News about Construction Management

Lezzer Lumber – recruiting for commercial estimator, sales coordinator, buyer, bookkeeper and store managers – will staff a pop-up information table to talk with students and alumni from several Penn College programs. Watch for the company’s representatives from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8, in the Hager Lifelong Education Center lobby (near Penn Central).

Pennsylvania College of Technology students received all three of the $1,000 scholarships awarded this season by the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the Construction Management Association of America.

Presented with their checks at the regional chapter’s Jan. 26 meeting in Mechanicsburg were Brian J. Adams, of Holland, now a two-time winner; Morgan H. Littlefield, of Columbia Crossroads; and Dylan B. Whitmoyer, of Muncy. All are enrolled in the four-year construction management major and are members of the college’s Construction Management Association, a CMAA student chapter.

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Construction management students at Pennsylvania College of Technology brought home second- and third-place honors from the 33rd annual Associated Schools of Construction Region 1 Student Competition, held Nov. 10-12 in Albany, New York.

Penn College’s Heavy Highway/Civil Estimating team, one of 10 colleges in that division, placed second. The college’s Preconstruction team placed third among the six schools in its category. ASC’s Region 1 encompasses Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia.

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The Penn College Women in Construction club is remembering one of its own, showcasing a late classmate’s work on the second floor of the Hager Lifelong Education Center.

Ashley D. Gentile-Wing was pursuing an associate degree in architecture and bachelor’s in residential construction technology & management when she died in a March 6 vehicle accident in Maine. (Both degrees were posthumously awarded by former President Davie Jane Gilmour during the college’s Spring 2022 commencement ceremonies.)

The student organization framed one of Gentile-Wing’s final designs, a poster depicting the San Giovanni Chapel in Val di Lago, Italy, and will hang it on a south wall near the architecture department.

Five students from Penn College Women in Construction, their family members and three college co-workers toured Frank Lloyd Wright’s famed Fallingwater in Fayette County on Saturday.

“The weather was perfect, and it was cool to see the property in the fall,” said club President Amanda F. Ritter, of Williamsport, a building science & sustainable design: architectural technology concentration student. “We learned a lot about the residence and how the Kaufmann family lived in the house. We also learned how they dealt with the issues that the architecture caused, and how Mr. Wright dealt with those issues when he was alive.”

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Construction Specialties, a New Jersey-based building products manufacturer with four local operations in eastern Lycoming County, has appreciably broadened its collaboration with Pennsylvania College of Technology.

The company, a participant in Penn College’s Corporate Tomorrow Makers program, has established an endowed scholarship and sponsored three Pre-College Programs this past summer.

Preference for the Construction Specialties Building the Future Scholarship, which will be awarded annually starting with the Fall 2022 semester, will be given to full-time students from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia and Texas who are pursuing a variety of degrees in the college’s School of Engineering Technologies. Scholarship awards are renewable for up to four years.

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The neon T-shirts of students, chaperones and volunteers sufficiently chased away the gloom and allowed a rainy Thursday’s “PA Build My Future” to flourish unimpeded.

A construction career day and industry showcase not held at Penn College since 2019, the event introduced nearly 1,000 students from more than 30 high schools and career and technical centers to the breadth of occupations available in construction and design – thanks, in turn, to scores of exhibitors in and around the Carl Building Technologies Center and other campus sites.

WBRE/WYOU’s Jazzmyn Allen and WNEP’s Chris Keating interviewed organizers and attendees for their respective newscasts, and the event also merited front-page coverage in Friday’s Williamsport Sun-Gazette.

“PA Build My Future” is co-sponsored by a Homebuilding Education Leadership Program grant, with additional assistance from Construction Specialties, the Pennsylvania Builders Association, West Branch Susquehanna Builders Association and Zartman Construction Inc.

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Students learned about Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Spring 2023 Global Experience itinerary during a recent drop-in session at The LEAP Center, a valuable resource on the first floor of the Davie Jane Gilmour Center, offering a convenient forum in which to explore a half-dozen attractive travel options.

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Among the newer additions to the Pennsylvania College of Technology community as the Fall 2022 semester begins are 19 faculty members, as provided by the Office of People & Culture. Fifteen will begin their instructional duties on Aug. 11; the remainder were added to the roster as noted.

“This cohort of new faculty possesses a wide range of experiences and skills,” said Joanna K. Flynn, dean of curriculum and instruction. “We are excited to see the impact they will have on our students and the college.”

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Members of the Penn College Women in Construction club – including President Makenzie E. Witmer, a construction management student from Bellefonte, and Amanda F. Ritter, the organization’s vice president and treasurer – were among those treated to a recent tour of The Victorian House. Rob A. Wozniak, retiring in August as an associate professor of architecture, led the tour of the campus centerpiece, which was dedicated in June 1997 after more than two years of work by students, faculty and staff. “We had a good afternoon learning about The Victorian House, how it was designed by students and what we can learn about how to do some things better in the construction industry,” said Ritter, a building science and sustainable design: architectural technology concentration student from Williamsport. “It’s Mr. Wozniak’s last semester at Penn College, and he enjoys working with students so we can learn about buildings on campus and apply it to our future careers.” The club is co-advised by Ellyn A. Lester, assistant dean of construction and architectural technologies, and Jessica U. Oberlin, librarian for information technology initiatives and The Madigan Library’s liaison to the Construction & Architectural Technologies and Materials Science & Engineering & Technologies divisions of the School of Engineering Technologies. “I’m happy we got to do this with Rob before his retirement since it gave an expert insight into the build of The Victorian House,” said Oberlin, who also provided the photos. “This was my first time into the house and I’m glad it was with PCWIC, who will be true women leaders in their fields. They inspire me every day!”

More than $10,000 in year-end student scholarships were presented Thursday at a meeting of Penn College’s Construction Management Advisory Committee, an exciting milestone heralded by department head Wayne R. Sheppard. The assistant professor presided over a lunchtime awards ceremony in Penn’s Inn, where various committee members – industry partners who advise faculty and the administration on issues ranging from curriculum to equipment to internship opportunities – presented the honors to a deserving cadre of four-year construction management students.

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A team of students from Pennsylvania College of Technology recently traveled to Texas, making it through all three rounds of the 2022 Student Chapter Construction Management Competition for an overall seventh-place finish.

Competing as one of 14 teams at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, the centerpiece of the Associated Builders and Contractors’ annual convention, the Penn College contingent was challenged to assume the role of a general contractor/construction-manager-at-risk for construction of a five-story office building in Austin’s central business district.

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Student-athlete Will F. Sulesky readily sails through the dualities of his favorite sport – the mental-vs.-physical and individual-vs.-team aspects of basketball, as well as the challenges on and off the court – and has enjoyed similar ease in his choice of four-year major at Penn College. “I wanted to get into construction management rather early in high school. In Pennsylvania, there was a handful of schools that offered it,” the Huntingdon resident says. “Coach (Geoff) Hensley reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, would you like to play basketball here?’ And I thought, it’s a perfect match. I can go to school for the things that I want to learn and also play the game that I love.” Explore Sulesky’s journey through a 2½-minute Wildcat Spotlight video, learn why he appreciates the winning combination of Wildcat athletics and academics, and discover his secrets to overall achievement.

Pennsylvania College of Technology presented Kevin L. Imes with a Distinguished Alumni Award at Fall 2021 Commencement.

Imes, of Palmyra, a construction project manager at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, earned an associate degree in building construction technology and a bachelor’s degree in construction management from Penn College in 2003 and 2007, respectively.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is presented to those who have made significant contributions in their chosen fields, demonstrated the importance of their education at Penn College or its predecessors, participated in leadership roles within the community, and demonstrated a commitment to their alma mater.

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Construction management students at Pennsylvania College of Technology brought home first- and second-place honors from the 32nd annual Associated Schools of Construction Region 1 Student Competition, held Nov. 11-13 in Albany, New York.

The college’s Pre-Construction Team, tasked with construction and renovation of a public school building in New England, placed first. Its Heavy Highway/Civil Team, assigned a New Jersey sewer project, placed second in the competition.

“I am amazed every year at what the student teams are able to accomplish in such a short time,” said Wayne R. Sheppard, assistant professor and department head for construction management. “The Penn College teams are composed of volunteers who compete extracurricularly on top of already busy schedules that include classes, employment, and other clubs and activities. How they come together and develop as a group and then work through these challenges is fun to watch.

“Winning trophies is great, but the learning and the great memories will last forever.”

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