Pennsylvania College of Technology’s expanded welding instructional facility is home to new equipment from CLOOS Robotic Welding Inc.
The company – known for its pre-engineered and custom-engineered robots and welding equipment – is entrusting one of its QRC 320 upright robots with V9 controller to the college. The unit is an enhanced version of the robotic welder CLOOS provided to the college in 2014.
Follow along as Pennsylvania College of Technology welding student Erin Beaver crafts an amazing entry for the 2019 SkillsUSA welding sculpture competition. From her tentative first steps in October to June’s award ceremony, Beaver’s journey is chronicled in a new video on the college’s YouTube channel. No matter the results of the competition, she proves that she is a tomorrow maker. “If you can imagine it, you can do it,” Beaver says. With that philosophy and her remarkable talent, what a tomorrow it will be for her!
Among the latest additions to the Pennsylvania College of Technology community are new full-time faculty members for the Fall 2019 semester, as provided by the Human Resources Office (all effective Aug. 15).
Pennsylvania College of Technology’s expanded welding instructional facility will include laser welding, thanks in part to a partnership with Laserline Inc.
The manufacturer of high-power industrial diode lasers for metals processing and other applications is entrusting a 2 kilowatt laser power source to the college, which will facilitate an operational laser cell for students.
“We are grateful for the Laserline partnership, which is instrumental in the college’s effort to add laser welding to the curriculum,” said David R. Cotner, dean of Penn College’s School of Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies. “Laser welding is growing, so we want to provide hands-on experience with the technology for our students. We have a long history of adapting to the needs of industry, and this is the latest example.”
A foundation promoting manufacturing careers awarded one-third of its recent scholarships to Pennsylvania College of Technology students.
A dozen Penn College students were among 36 nationwide who received manufacturing scholarships from Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs. The scholarships, valued between $1,500 and $2,500, are for Fall 2019.
“I couldn’t be prouder,” said David R. Cotner, dean of Penn College’s School of Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies, which is home to the recipients’ majors. “To have the college dominate a national scholarship list speaks volumes about the quality of our students and our various academic programs.”
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.”
The approved 2019-20 state budget delivers appropriation funding to Pennsylvania College of Technology reflecting its long history of success in producing skilled workers, while leveling the playing field with other publicly funded institutions in the commonwealth, the college’s board chair said Friday.
“Finally, Penn College is being recognized for the invaluable hands-on education and training it provides to students, who become highly skilled members of the workforce – addressing the skills gap that continues to impact industry and hinder the economy,” said Sen. Gene Yaw, chairman of the college’s Board of Directors. “All we have ever asked for is to be treated with parity in funding with other state institutions. With this budget, we have made real progress.”
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 week after the spring semester ended, six welding faculty at Pennsylvania College of Technology went back to school – as students. That preparation will equip them to be pioneers this fall when the college becomes the first U.S. educational institution to feature an electron beam welder.
Welding instructors Michael R. Allen, Aaron E. Biddle, Ryan P. Good, Jacob B. Holland, Ty E. Rhinehart and assistant professor James N. Colton II spent three days in Agawam, Massachusetts, training with field engineers from Cambridge Vacuum Engineering on an electron beam welder. CVE, an England-based company, is scheduled to deliver a 60kV unit to campus in late October.
Penn College welding faculty recently undertook three days of training at Cambridge Vacuum Engineering Inc. on an electron beam welder that is very similar to the one that will be delivered to campus this fall. Electron beam welding – vital technology in the aerospace, automotive, energy, medical, semiconductor and military industries – is commonly used in the manufacturing of small components. Once installed in the greatly expanded Lycoming Engines Metal Trades Center, it will be the only electron beam welder placed by CVE in any college or university within the United States.
Three Pennsylvania College of Technology faculty members were honored at Spring 2019 Commencement ceremonies for their prowess as teachers.
Ryan P. Good, assistant professor of welding, was presented with the highest honor accorded to Penn College faculty: the Veronica M. Muzic Master Teacher Award.
Two faculty members received recognition for their outstanding teaching skills by earning Excellence in Teaching Awards: Drew R. Potts, assistant professor and department head of civil engineering technology, and David S. Richards, professor of physics.
A bipartisan group of state legislators, all present for President Davie Jane Gilmour’s budget request to the Senate Appropriations Committee in February, got a follow-up look at Penn College during a trip to main campus on Tuesday. Touring a number of instructional labs with Sen. Gene Yaw (chairman of the college’s board of directors), administrators, faculty and staff were Sen. Art Haywood (D-Cheltenham), minority chair of the Health and Human Services Committee; Sen. Thomas H. Killion (R-Middletown), who chairs the Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee; Sen. Daniel Laughlin (R-Erie), chair of the Game and Fisheries Committee; and Sen. Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia), minority chairman of the Banking and Insurance Committee. Along for the visit were H. Fred Walker, director of Erie County Technical School; Kendall Alexander, Haywood’s communications director; and three members of Street’s staff: policy assistant Micah Mahjoubian, legislative aide Angel Betancourt and special assistant Kenneth Carter. Some members of the Senate contingent, who collectively represent highly populated areas from Erie in the northwest to Philadelphia in the southeast corner of the commonwealth, also enjoyed lunch in Le Jeune Chef Restaurant.
This fall, when Pennsylvania College of Technology opens its expanded welding lab facility – one that will enable enrollment of up to 60 more future welders annually – students in the popular program will hone their skills on industry-standard equipment they are sure to encounter on the job.
A partnership between Penn College and Miller, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of original equipment used in the welding industry, will ensure that students in the college’s welding majors gain familiarity with equipment that is used throughout the welding industry.
A cacophony of sounds reverberates throughout the expansive lab. Sparks emanating from rows of booths color the facility. Motion is constant as students and teachers navigate to the next project while a parade of visitors watches the action unfold.
Bustling activity, bright lights and loud noises usually are disconcerting for Destiny R. Barto. But on this morning, like many of her days at Pennsylvania College of Technology, she has shelter from all distractions. The pink hood enveloping her head provides a sanctuary, as she grasps a welding rod and strikes an arc on a long piece of metal.
The resulting path of weld beads is much smoother than the one she followed to arrive at this moment. Obstacles littered that path from the day she was born in Elmira, New York.
“I really have to stop and think about what I have done in order to feel accomplished,” she said. “Most of the time, I’m focused on the things I have to do. There’s a lot to do.”
Members of the Hershey Region of the Antique Automobile Association of America, among the generous champions of Penn College’s automotive restoration technology major, recently returned to main campus as the first stop on this season’s “Point Run” schedule. The group enjoyed a buffet lunch, toured several instructional areas, and met with student members of the Penn College Motorsports Association and the Classic Cruisers Club.