Welding

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Penn College students awarded manufacturing scholarships

Eight students from Pennsylvania College of Technology are among 37 nationwide honored with scholarships from a foundation that promotes skilled manufacturing careers.

The $1,500 scholarships from Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs – the foundation of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association International – are for the Fall 2020 semester. Full-time students enrolled in an engineering or manufacturing-related course of study were eligible.

The eight Penn College recipients represent majors within the School of Engineering Technologies.

“We are very proud to see so many of our students honored with the scholarships,” said Bradley M. Webb, dean of engineering technologies. “Penn College had more students receive the scholarships than any other school. That fact reflects the high quality of not only our students but also our academic programs and dedicated faculty.”

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‘You never know if you don’t try!’

Russ, outside the Community Arts Center, where she accepted her associate degree in welding technology in May 2019.

A 2019 welding technology alumna, who returned to Pennsylvania College of Technology to explore automotive restoration technology, was featured in a “Work Ethic Wednesday” post on the mikeroweWORKS Foundation’s Facebook page earlier this month.

Madison O. Russ recently became the first-ever restoration intern at Kindig-It Design, a custom car fabrication shop in Salt Lake City, and her tenacity in landing the position caught the eye of Rowe – a TV personality and longtime advocate for hands-on skills – and his staff.

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Videos reflect college’s work on ‘Living Chapel’

A pair of YouTube videos adds perspective to the Living Chapel, an international gift that seamlessly melds architecture, botany, theology, sustainability and music – with a vital assist from Penn College welding faculty and students. The first, produced by Gillean Denny, chief architectural designer of the “enormous jigsaw puzzle,” includes footage from the college’s welding labs and on-screen input from James N. Colton II, assistant professor of welding. “The music can be continuously adapted and reimagined,” Denny says, commenting on just one of the project’s stunning features: water-fed instrumentation that accents its natural artistry. “Just like the Living Chapel design itself, it should never be finished,” she says. “The design is alive. And I think that is the most important thing.”

A second video, provided by the Botanical Garden of Rome and presented in Italian, offers an overview of the entire process. Among the principals interviewed is Fabio Attorre, the garden’s director, who talks of the focus required to complete the project contemporaneous to a pandemic. During “a moment so difficult for our country,” he says, “we managed to bring home this beautiful structure.”

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‘Living Chapel’ to be unveiled in Friday livestream

The Living Chapel, a global project in which Pennsylvania College of Technology welding faculty and students were integral partners, will be officially unveiled Friday in a 90-minute streaming event. The launch, in conjunction with the United Nations‘ World Environmental Day, will be broadcast live from the Rome Botanical Garden at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (5 p.m. in Italy) and made available through The Living Chapel’s Facebook page. A PCToday article, video and photos chronicle the college’s exhaustive role in the chapel’s creation, a fabrication challenge that amounted to 3,500-plus hours over 10 weeks. Friday’s full agenda – which includes virtual input from Toronto-based designer Gillean Denny, a Penn State alumna whose discussions with a mentor at her alma mater resulted in Penn College’s involvement – follows: The Living Chapel

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Penn College welding faculty, students build ‘Living Chapel’

The Living Chapel measures about 45 feet long by 30 feet wide, with heights ranging between 10 and 15 feet. The structure will remain at the Botanical Garden of Rome until social distancing rules permit a stay at the Vatican before being moved to its permanent location in Assisi, Italy.

A massive structure meant to encourage the “ecological awakening of humanity” can trace its foundation across the Atlantic Ocean to the welding expertise and facilities offered at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Nine instructors and 15 students spent 10 weeks fabricating the structural framework for the Living Chapel, unveiled this week at the Botanical Garden of Rome during Global Catholic Climate Movement activities. Its formal unveiling via streaming video is scheduled for June 5, U.N. World Environment Day.

When social distancing rules permit, the open-air sanctuary – made of aluminum and recyclable and repurposed materials – will be placed at the Vatican before being moved to its permanent home in Assisi, Italy, the birthplace of St. Francis, the patron saint of ecology, whose small church provided the footprint for the Living Chapel.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, what it’s going to mean to everybody,” said James N. Colton II, assistant professor of welding, who led the Penn College fabrication team. “It’s definitely a big deal.”

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NSF supporting program development at Penn College

Pennsylvania College of Technology is developing two certificates and an associate degree focusing on non-destructive testing. The certificate programs are scheduled to be offered for the 2021-22 Academic Year, followed a year later by the associate degree.

A three-year National Science Foundation grant is supporting Pennsylvania College of Technology’s development of two certificates and an associate degree to meet the growing need for technicians in non-destructive testing.

The nearly $600,000 grant – A Collaborative Approach to Expanding Nondestructive Testing Education Within a Welding Program – is funded by the NSF’s Advanced Technological Education program, which is geared to the education of technicians for advanced-technology fields that drive the nation’s economy, such as non-destructive testing.

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Welding Digest spotlights college’s enhanced lab

An article and YouTube video about Penn College’s expanded welding lab in the Lycoming Engines Metal Trades Center have been added to the Welding Digest website. The American Welding Society’s premier digital news source, the site is designed to provide thousands of welders and allied professionals with news and information related to the welding/fabrication industry.

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Welding lab gets cross-country exposure through FOX News

The journalist tells viewers that Penn College welding students have to complete a minimum of 144 hours of hands-on lab experience.

The media spotlight on Penn College’s expanded welding lab shone brightly – and nationally – this week, attracting a visit from Philadelphia-based FOX News reporter Katie Byrne. The multimedia journalist spent much of Tuesday morning in the Lycoming Engines Metal Trades Center, talking with students and administration from the School of Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies. She also captured considerable video footage of the enhanced instructional space, resulting in online and broadcast versions of her story. The latter was distributed to FOX affiliates throughout the country, airing on Byrne’s home station (FOX29) Friday evening and during weekend newscasts on the FOX News cable network.

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Eyewitness News reporter goes ‘under the mask’ for welding story

Maenza, of Sayre, by one of the college's new robotic welders. — Maenza, of Sayre, by one of the college’s new robotic welders.

Allen, co-department head for welding, gets the on-air treatment.

Parrish talks with Digan, of Mifflinburg.

Eyewitness News’ Morgan Parrish toured the expanded welding lab in the Lycoming Engines Metal Trades Center on Wednesday, interviewing instructor Michael R. Allen along with welding and fabrication engineering technology students Josiah D. Maenza and Cinnamon A. Digan. For her piece, Parrish donned a safety helmet and embraced just one of the hands-on opportunities that Penn College students regularly experience. “Adds welder to resume,” she tweeted in advance of her report on WBRE/WYOU and pahomepage.com.

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Welding expansion attracts Newswatch 16 coverage

Backed by an impressive commemoration of the donors who made the facility possible, Keating talks with Rhoades.

Recording some welding in "Pipe Alley" — Recording some welding in “Pipe Alley”

Allen adds faculty insight to the interviews.

A WNEP reporter visited Penn College’s Lycoming Engines Metal Trades Center this week, preparing a piece about the expanded (and recently dedicated) welding lab. Chris Keating interviewed welding and fabrication engineering technology majors Natalie J. Rhoades, of Weedville, and Sara D. Stafford, of West Chester, as well as instructor Michael R. Allen. The story premiered during Wednesday’s evening newscasts.

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Penn College welding expansion sparks opportunities

Penn College’s expanded and enhanced welding lab, unveiled in dedication ceremonies on Feb. 6, is featured in a new video on the college’s YouTube channel. At 55,000-plus square feet, it is believed to be the largest such facility in higher education nationwide. Thanks, in part, to $2.5 million in corporate support, the lab includes an electron beam welder, CNC plasma cutters, laser welding, automation and robotics, and 124 individual welding booths. “It’s really important for us to take this opportunity to come alongside a school like Penn College in a way that enables the educators to do what they do best, and that’s to really teach and inspire these kids,” said Miller Electric’s Dave Lambert. “And when you feel and see that kind of commitment and dedication to the future of the industry and the future of trades, it’s easy to want to be involved.” The college enrolls about 300 welding students, and graduates of the program have nearly a 100% placement rate.

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College celebrates expanded welding lab, industry partners

Pennsylvania College of Technology President Davie Jane Gilmour deftly wields a plasma cutter to sever a metal ribbon during a dedication ceremony for a greatly expanded welding facility at the college.

An expanded and enhanced welding lab – at 55,000-plus square feet, believed to be the largest such facility in higher education nationwide – was dedicated on Feb. 6 at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

The Welding Expansion Project, funded in part by a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, added 35,000 square feet of instructional space to the lab in the college’s Lycoming Engines Metal Trades Center, allowing for enrollment of up to 60 more welding students annually – more than 300 in total.

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Penn College manufacturing students earn scholarships

Four Pennsylvania College of Technology students received scholarships from Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs, the foundation of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association International: Tyler J. Bandle, of Slatington, and John A. Provenza Jr., of Marysville, automated manufacturing technology; Sean A. Bush, of Williamsport, electrical technology; and Cinnamon A. Digan, of Mifflinburg, welding and fabrication engineering technology.

Four Pennsylvania College of Technology students are among 14 nationwide to receive scholarships from a foundation dedicated to promoting skilled manufacturing careers.

The $1,500 to $2,500 scholarships from Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs, the foundation of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association International, are for full-time students enrolled in an engineering or manufacturing-related course of study.

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Emeritus status approved for longtime faculty member

Robert M. Vaughn, in an archival photo from November 2002

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Board of Directors has approved faculty emeritus status for Robert M. Vaughn, who taught welding at the institution for nearly four decades.

Vaughn retired in August after 39 years of service to Penn College and its immediate predecessor, Williamsport Area Community College.

Vaughn’s nominating documentation noted the many roles he played in addition to serving with distinction on faculty, including “advisor and mentor to the students, as well as other faculty members, in and out of the classroom.”

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State House speaker, colleagues tour campus labs

The group intently listens to President Gilmour in the college's welding addition. From left are Reed; Turzai; Borowicz; Owlett's wife, Lauren; and Owlett. — The group intently listens to President Gilmour in the college’s welding addition. From left are Reed; Turzai; Borowicz; Owlett’s wife, Lauren; and Owlett.

David R. Cotner (second from right), dean of industrial, computing and engineering technologies, takes the group by the expanded facility's impressive new plasma equipment. — David R. Cotner (second from right), dean of industrial, computing and engineering technologies, takes the group by the expanded facility’s impressive new plasma equipment.

John M. Good III, instructor of automation and computer integrated manufacturing, leads a tour in College Avenue Labs.

The group pauses in front of a ProtoTrak lathe, among equipment purchased with a National Science Foundation grant to combat the skills gap in advanced manufacturing. From left are Owlett, Wheeland, Turzai, Yaw and Borowicz.

Shannon M. Munro (in light blue), vice president for workforce development, discusses production activities in the Shell Polymers Rotational Molding Center of Excellence.

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.

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