News about Plastics & Polymer

A leadership contingent from Penn State DuBois sweepingly explored Penn College’s main campus on Tuesday, stopping by … walking by … and being greatly impressed by the variety of academic areas and services that give students a full collegiate experience and develop their workforce readiness. Making the visit from the commonwealth campus, about 110 miles west of Williamsport, were: Jungwoo Ryoo, chancellor and chief academic officer; Alex Gasbarre, chief executive officer of Gasbarre Products Inc., a DuBois-based supplier to the powder metallurgy, particulate materials and thermal processing industries; John P. Brennan, director of continuing and community education; and Bradley W. Lashinsky, program director, North Central PA LaunchBox at the DuBois campus.

“Anytime we can learn from one another, and find mutually beneficial opportunities for our students and industry, is a good day,” said President Michael J. Reed, who met Ryoo several weeks ago and bolstered that connection during Tuesday’s visit. “There is much to discuss about our common goals – and ways in which to achieve them – and we welcome the ongoing collaboration.”

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Jake C. Beatty volunteered for the class project because it sounded “cool.” Turns out, he was right.

The result was an invaluable experience for the manufacturing student at Pennsylvania College of Technology and will benefit those who follow his path.

Beatty, of Grove City, designed a vacuum-form mold that – with the assistance of a tooling company and the Penn College plastics department – resulted in the manufacturing of bed protection covers for milling machines used for practical instruction in the college’s Larry A. Ward Machining Technologies Center.

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A foundation dedicated to supporting packaging and processing education throughout North America has awarded a $5,000 scholarship to a Pennsylvania College of Technology plastics student.

Morgan T. Bartholomew, of Etters, is one of six students to receive the PACK EXPO scholarship from the PMMI Foundation of the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. A Dean’s List student, Bartholomew is seeking a bachelor’s degree in plastics & polymer engineering technology.

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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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Two of the three finalists for “Intern of the Year” at this month’s seventh annual Young Professionals Awards ceremony at Lackawanna County’s PNC Field – including the ultimate winner – are Pennsylvania College of Technology students.

Chosen for the honor was Scott Stout, of Nanticoke, an associate engineer at The AZEK Co., a Chicago-based business with locations in Scranton. He will graduate in December with a bachelor’s degree in plastics & polymer engineering technology.

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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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A $25,000 donation from the Chicago SPE Educational Foundation and the Chicago Section of SPE will endow the Patsy and Glenn L. Beall Chicago SPE Scholarship for plastics students at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

The Chicago SPE Educational Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to enhancing and improving the quality of plastics education in schools. It offers scholarships to deserving students studying in the field of plastics, as well as matching grants to educators at schools offering programs in plastics technology and associated fields.

The Chicago Section of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE-CS) is the Chicagoland community of plastics engineers and professionals from large and small companies, universities, government facilities, and technology providers, primarily in Northern Illinois. It is one of the most populous sections of the society.

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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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The acting secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development visited campus on Monday to talk with Penn College faculty and high school students participating in the four-day Thingamajig Fabricators Pre-College Program that was partially funded by the Governor’s Office.

“The Wolf Administration is proud to support camps like these and introduce the next generation to different ways they can work in the manufacturing industry,” Neil Weaver said. “It’s exciting to be here to see firsthand the excitement and enthusiasm these students have for manufacturing. From what I’ve seen here today, the future of Pennsylvania manufacturing is in very good hands.”

Gov. Tom Wolf had earmarked nearly $80,000 in grants to Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs, a charitable foundation of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association International, to partner in six Summer Manufacturing Camps this year and another dozen in 2023.

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U.S. Rep. Fred Keller, R-12th, met with local elected officials and representatives of Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry during a District Energy Day that included a roundtable discussion at Penn College. “Right here at Pennsylvania College of Technology, we see the great work they’re doing to educate the future workforce,” said the congressman, who supplemented Monday’s session with tours of plastics, welding and machining labs.

A dozen plastics professionals representing five companies benefited from a recent weeklong workshop hosted by Pennsylvania College of Technology and its renowned Plastics Innovation & Resource Center.

The Injection Molding Processing Series combined lecture and hands-on experience in covering decoupled molding setup and operation and the injection molding process. Through real-world examples and troubleshooting sessions, participants learned how the mold, machine and plastic material all play a role in the molding of plastics parts.

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Years of musical education – and the obvious hard work that accompanies that level of commitment – resulted in a student’s selection as Pennsylvania College of Technology’s representative at the 74th annual Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Band Festival, organized by the Pennsylvania Collegiate Bandmasters Association and held Feb. 25-27 at Shippensburg University.

Zachary J. Geffre, a Loyalsock Township High School graduate pursuing a bachelor’s degree in plastics and polymer engineering technology, has been part of the Penn College Pep Band since his first semester in 2019. He also takes music classes at Lycoming College, where he is a member of the orchestra, concert band and jazz band.

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Jacob W. Fry, who earned a bachelor’s degree in plastics and polymer engineering technology from Penn College in 2016, has been profiled as a “Rising Star” in Plastics News. The industry publication this week posted a Q&A with Fry, who is employed as a business development manager with Currier Plastics Inc. in Auburn, New York. “At Hughesville High School, I was given the opportunity to take an elective course in plastics that would later give me college credits,” he said. “The course had many experiments, demos and labs. I loved the class, and that is the reason why I am in the industry today.”

As an archer, James R. Fanelli aimed straight. As an aspiring plastics professional, he zigzagged between continents. The Pennsylvania College of Technology alumnus hit “bull’s-eye” with both approaches.

One led to a championship, the other to a rewarding career.

The 2010 graduate is a senior tooling plastics engineer for Medtronic, a leading global health care technology company. Fanelli supports the development and production of components and devices utilized during open, laparoscopic and robotic-assisted surgical procedures, from access and instrumentation tools to internal tissue and skin stapling technology.

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Novatec Inc., the largest U.S.-based manufacturer of resin drying and conveying equipment for the plastics industry, has renewed its entrustment agreement with Pennsylvania College of Technology for equipment used in plastics and polymer-related instruction at the college.

The two-year renewal of an agreement originating in 2010 includes equipment such as a desiccant-free dryer, a micro blender, vacuum loaders, a feeder, a venturi loader for a blender and a NovaWheel dry/convey unit. The total value of the entrusted equipment is nearly $50,000.

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