The Society of Plastics Engineers Foundation has honored a Pennsylvania College of Technology student with a scholarship.
Sidney C. Trunzo, of Williamsport, majoring in plastics and polymer engineering technology, earned a $1,500 Thermoforming Division Scholarship from the society dedicated to advancing the plastics profession worldwide.
The Pennsylvania College of Technology Board of Directors on Thursday authorized emeritus status for three retired faculty members.
Approved for faculty emeritus designation are Richard J. Calvert Jr., assistant professor and co-department head, electronics; Jeffrey B. Weaver, associate professor, electronics; and Timothy Weston, associate professor, plastics technology.
Curiosity drives Fletcher Ewing.
As a kid, it drove him to build and race Soap Box Derby cars. As a college student, it led him to study plastics. As a professional, it inspires him to “shoot for the moon.”
The 1998 Pennsylvania College of Technology graduate and Selinsgrove native is a senior mechanical engineer in Silicon Valley for X, The Moonshot Factory. Formerly known as Google X, the company consists of inventors, engineers and entrepreneurs whose expectations defy gravity. Their objective is to build and launch “technologies that aim to improve the lives of millions, even billions of people.”
Between classes, a Pennsylvania College of Technology student modified a computer numerical control router that he typically uses for woodworking projects to help manufacture more than 300 face shields for distribution to hospitals in his area.
Matthew A. Semmel, of Palmerton, is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in engineering design technology and an associate degree in plastics and polymer technology. Due to the pandemic, he – like all other Penn College students – has been taking classes remotely since mid-March to comply with the state’s stay-at-home order and social distancing guidance.
SEKISUI SPI, a Bloomsburg-based thermoplastics company, sponsored three days of opportunity for young learners to experiment with polymers via a visit from the Society of Plastics Engineers’ PlastiVan. PlastiVan educator Elizabeth Egan talked with Penn College NOW students from seven high schools who visited over two days. Penn College NOW is the college’s nationally accredited dual-enrollment program, which provides Penn College classes to high school students in their schools, where they receive both high school and college credit for the courses. While on campus, Egan taught the high school students about the history, chemistry and uses of plastic through fun experiments. The students also toured the college’s plastics education facilities, where they interacted with faculty and students, and the campus. The PlastiVan also spent a day at the annual Science Festival on campus Wednesday.
Penn College is home to a community of creators. Go-getters. Creative thinkers. And problem solvers who set out to master real-world skills. It’s where you’ll meet Sidney C. Trunzo, a plastics and polymer engineering technology student. Check out a video, added to the college’s YouTube channel, for a glimpse of her training in hands-on labs. Find out why she loves her major. And learn how this ABET-accredited program prepares Trunzo and her classmates to take the lead in a thriving industry. “I can relate my major to the real world, and I can instantly see the things I am learning about and how they apply to real life,” she says. “It’s just something different, something that you can change the world with, and I think it’s something that’s really important for the future.” A future made by hand.
The speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives was among state legislators who visited Penn College on Thursday afternoon, touring several academic laboratories in the School of Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies. Comprising the group were Speaker Michael C. Turzai (R-McCandless), Rep. Stephanie Borowicz (R-Lock Haven), Rep. Clinton D. Owlett (R-Wellsboro), Rep. Jeff C. Wheeland (R-Williamsport) and Neil R. Lesher, Rep. Turzai’s chief of staff. During the lawmakers’ 90-minute stay, school administration and faculty – along with Workforce Development personnel – introduced them to welding and metal fabrication technologies, advanced manufacturing, and plastics and polymer engineering technologies. Facilitating the visit were President Davie Jane Gilmour; Michael J. Reed, vice president for academic affairs/provost; Patrick Marty, chief of staff and assistant to the president for college relations; and state Sen. Gene Yaw, chair of the college’s board of directors. Others on the tour included Lycoming County Commissioner-elect Scott L. Metzger and Fisher Mining Co.’s John A. Blaschak, one of the college’s corporate partners and a member of its Visionary Society.
School counselors, along with career and technical educators, included Penn College on a Monday tour of the area’s industrial assets. The guests began their afternoon with lunch in the new welding addition before exploring new and existing welding labs in the Lycoming Engines Metal Trades Center, then moved to the Breuder Advanced Technology & Health Sciences Center for stopovers in nursing and plastics. The groups visited several businesses in the region prior to arriving on main campus, including Lycoming Engines, Halliburton and Savoy Contract Furniture. Eyewitness News’ Morgan Parrish was along for the tours, which were facilitated by the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.
A global accreditation leader has given its stamp of approval to five Pennsylvania College of Technology majors.
The ABET Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission has reaccredited the college’s associate degrees in civil engineering technology, plastics and polymer technology, and surveying technology, as well as baccalaureate degrees in civil engineering technology and plastics and polymer engineering technology.
Graduates of those majors who have responded to recent surveys administered by the college report a 100% placement rate.
A Pennsylvania College of Technology plastics student is one of just six individuals nationwide to receive a $5,000 PACK EXPO scholarship.
Lucas S. Poche, of Lewistown, a senior majoring in plastics and polymer engineering technology, earned the scholarship from The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. PMMI is a trade association consisting of companies involved in various aspects of packaging throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The Shell Polymers Rotational Molding Center of Excellence was unveiled Sept. 24, and Shell was honored for its generous support for facilities that aid in the instruction of aspiring plastics professionals at Pennsylvania College of Technology.
In a dedication ceremony attended by representatives of the college and Shell and a host of industry partners and stakeholders, participants celebrated the enhanced and upgraded academic and research lab, located in the Advanced Technology & Health Sciences Center at Penn College.
The Shell Polymers Rotational Molding Center of Excellence will boost the college’s efforts to produce highly skilled graduates for the plastics industry while helping to ease the skills gap in plastics manufacturing. It also enables the college – which operates the Plastics Innovation & Resource Center – to assist plastics companies with research and development and the training of incumbent workers.
A plastics organization comprising industry leaders has awarded a $3,000 scholarship to a Pennsylvania College of Technology student.
Nathan A. Rader-Edkin, of Williamsport, majoring in plastics and polymer engineering technology, earned the scholarship from the Plastics Pioneers Association.
Two Pennsylvania College of Technology plastics students were among five nationwide to receive scholarships from the Society of Plastics Engineers Thermoforming Division.
Haven K. Bontz, of Cooperstown, and Nathan A. Rader-Edkin, of Williamsport, both majoring in plastics and polymer engineering technology, earned the scholarships from the professional society dedicated to advancing thermoforming technologies. Bontz’s scholarship was for $2,000, and Rader-Edkin received $2,500.
The Society of Plastics Engineers Foundation recognized the excellence of two Pennsylvania College of Technology students by awarding them scholarships.
Shawnee M. Mills, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, and Lucas S. Poche, of Lewistown, both majoring in plastics and polymer engineering technology, earned the scholarships from the society dedicated to advancing the plastics profession worldwide.
State Rep. Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster), the second-highest ranking member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, visited Penn College on Thursday. Cutler, serving his first term as majority leader, was accompanied on the tour – which took in a number of instructional areas of main campus – by Jacob G. Smeltz, his chief of staff, as well as two members of the college’s board of directors: Sen. Gene Yaw, chair, and Rep. Garth Everett. President Davie Jane Gilmour and other members of the college administration (including Michael J. Reed, vice president for academic affairs and provost, and Patrick Marty, chief of staff) welcomed the guests, and various deans and faculty members led Cutler through The Victorian House, welding and metal fabrication, advanced manufacturing, automotive restoration, culinary arts and hospitality, plastics and polymer engineering, and several majors in the School of Nursing & Health Sciences. Cutler started his career in radiography, earning a certificate from Lancaster General School of Radiology. He worked as an X-ray technologist before earning a health care management degree from Lebanon Valley College and working as an administrator in his local hospital’s radiology department. He later earned a law degree, focused on health care law, from Widener Law School and has served in the Legislature since 2007. The day’s itinerary also included lunch at Le Jeune Chef Restaurant and a chance to see the Gold Rush Excavator on a nearby parking lot.