News about Heavy Equipment

Plasterer Equipment Co. Inc., a longtime John Deere dealer in the Lehigh Valley, recently provided a 310SL backhoe for short-term educational use at Penn College’s Schneebeli Earth Science Center.

Students had the opportunity to service the equipment and better understand the John Deere brand, capitalizing on access to the machine for repair and maintenance.

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For the second time in his career, an assistant professor of diesel equipment technology at Pennsylvania College of Technology has been honored with Caterpillar Inc.’s Pathfinder to Excellence Faculty Award.

A plaque was presented to Chris S. Weaver, a faculty member at the Schneebeli Earth Science Center, during this month’s advisory committee meeting of Caterpillar dealer representatives at the college’s Thompson Professional Development Center.

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Naming of the Allan Myers Field Site within Pennsylvania College of Technology’s designated area for heavy equipment and diesel instruction – a 125-acre “sandbox” where students can learn and safely practice the hands-on skills necessary for workplace proficiency – amplifies the company’s 30-year record of encouraging students and hiring graduates.

Allan Myers, a cherished Corporate Tomorrow Maker, has pledged $250,000 to expand its support of academic programs at Penn College.

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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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The two-decade alliance between Pennsylvania College of Technology and Foley Inc. was punctuated Oct. 10 with formal recognition of the Foley Hydraulics Lab in tribute to the first Caterpillar dealer to brand its territory at the college’s Schneebeli Earth Science Center.

Designation of the lab is just one part of Foley’s five-year, $250,000 commitment to Penn College’s heavy construction equipment technology: technician emphasis, heavy construction equipment technology: Caterpillar equipment emphasis and electric power generation technology: diesel emphasis programs.

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Faculty and students from Pennsylvania College of Technology – comprising all heavy construction equipment powertrain and engines classes, as well as three enrollees from a hydraulics course – attended an informative Sept. 28 open house at Groff Tractor & Equipment LLC  in Mechanicsburg.

Transported from the Schneebeli Earth Science Center and back on a chartered bus provided by the company, the Penn College contingent was treated to a tour of corporate headquarters – human resources, parts, and service and sales.

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The loan of a Volvo Construction Equipment excavator to Pennsylvania College of Technology, provided through Highway Equipment & Supply Co., adds another level to the corporate partners’ foundational focus on student success.

As with past loans from the industry leaders, the Volvo EC 220 EL excavator will be put to good use among students at the college’s 125-acre heavy equipment training site in Brady Township, just south of the Schneebeli Earth Science Center.

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Two alumni employed by Cleveland Brothers Equipment Co. Inc. – Nathan E. Chase, a 1988 diesel mechanics graduate of Williamsport Area Community College (Penn College’s immediate predecessor institution) and Joshua D. Ford, who earned an associate degree in diesel technology in 2002 – visited the Schneebeli Earth Science Center on Monday to give first-year students and seniors an exciting look at the future of the commercial trucking industry.

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A second week of Pre-College Programs, providing an absorbing midmonth bill of fare, winningly delivered eight more options for teenagers looking for purposeful summer diversion. Attracting both the well-traveled and the close-to-home, the latest Penn College sessions covered a range of career-focused opportunity: Automotive Restoration; Design, Build & Grow (landscape and horticulture); Diesel Truck & Heavy Equipment; Fundamentals of Emergency Response; Graphic Design Summer Studio; the first-time offerings of Have Your Cake & Decorate It, Too and Non-Destructive Testing; and Thingamajig Fabricators. This photo gallery provides a sampling of the visitors’ enlightening encounters with their potential futures, with a slightly heavier dose of the inaugural cake-decorating camp … because who doesn’t want an extra helping of cake? (Readers can also relive the first round of Pre-College Programs, published elsewhere on PCToday.)

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Foley Inc., a Cat® equipment dealer serving New Jersey; southeast Pennsylvania; Staten Island, New York; and northern Delaware, has enhanced and expanded its partnership with Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Foley, a Corporate Tomorrow Maker, has partnered with Penn College for 20 years in association with the heavy construction equipment technology: Caterpillar equipment emphasis and heavy equipment technology programs. The company is recognized as a Visionary Society member ($100,000-$499,999) on the college’s Donor Wall.

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On the 52nd annual Earth Day, Pennsylvania College of Technology hailed a phenomenon only slightly younger: the Schneebeli Earth Science Center, home to memories, marvels and the makers of a million tomorrows. Observing the milestone golden anniversary of the Allenwood area campus on a beautiful spring afternoon, attendees reveled in “this special place” known as the ESC.

“It is more than a place or a building, though,” said alumnus Justin W. Beishline, assistant dean of diesel technology and natural resources. “This is a place where you were possibly introduced to your career passion. This is a place where you met mentors who fostered your talent and helped you to become a professional. This is a place where, after you left high school, you met people with similar career aspirations and built lifelong friendships. If you came here right from high school, you left a home of 18 years to forge a new life, and the people at the ESC became your new family for two years.”

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Among the exhibitors at this year’s Motorama, making a triumphant return to the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg after a COVID-caused hiatus, was Penn College’s Diesel Performance Club and its 1959 B Model Mack drag truck. “The club gets really excited about Motorama and being able to show the truck to future students and alumni,” President Marcayla M. Lutzkanin said, adding that members gladly allow children to have their photos taken inside the vehicle. “Seeing the kids get all excited about being able to sit in the truck by far was my favorite part of the weekend. It is just an amazing feeling to make younger kids’ dreams come true and hopefully encourage them to be involved in trades when they get older and in high school. We created a memory for them that they won’t forget.” Although the organization didn’t bring home any trophies from the event earlier this semester, and members will continue to fine-tune their booth presentation, she said the club enjoys the public interaction and the recruitment potential that the popular venue provides.

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Allan Myers, the Mid-Atlantic’s largest heavy civil contractor and a valued Pennsylvania College of Technology Corporate Tomorrow Maker, has pledged $250,000 to expand its support of students and programs at the college.

The funds will be used for branding at the college’s heavy equipment operations site in Brady Township, to help support equipment needs and to expand the company’s scholarship through the Allan Myers Corporate Scholar Program at Penn College.

“This support from Allan Myers will significantly impact not only the experience and instruction for the heavy equipment operations program, but will also help Allan Myers Corporate Scholars with much-needed financial support,” said Elizabeth A. Biddle, director of corporate relations. “We sincerely thank Allan Myers for its longtime partnership and the generous support it provides to our programs and students. We look forward to seeing more great things happen.”

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Connections between Penn College and such corporate partners as Anderson Equipment Co. have always been invaluable, whether through equipment and monetary donations or in the hiring of skilled graduates. Join Justin W. Beishline, the college’s assistant dean of diesel technology and natural resources, and Jerry Skiff, director for service for Anderson – against the video backdrop of engaged faculty and students in the Schneebeli Earth Science Center’s well-outfitted labs – for a cogent assessment of what industry alliances mean when recruiting and educating the employees of tomorrow. “It’s amazing how many people are unaware of the opportunities in this industry,” Skiff says. “There’s a lot of job satisfaction in coming to work in the morning, working on a machine that costs $750,000 to $2 million, and you’re the one that got that machine up and running. Penn College provides those type of technicians for us.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Some archival lab footage predates the college’s COVID-19 precautions.)

Pennsylvania College of Technology and Anderson Equipment Co. have entered into an entrustment allowing for students in the heavy construction equipment technology program to hone their skills on a construction bulldozer.

The five-month entrustment, which runs through April 2022, enables students in the heavy construction equipment technology: technician emphasis major to access a new 2022 Komatsu D51PX-24 crawler dozer – valued at $245,190 – for instructional purposes.

Students will do undercarriage measurements; emission training; and electronic, hydraulic and HVAC diagnosis on the dozer.

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