News about Plastics & Polymer

A partnership with ABB, a leading global technology company, is bringing an industrial robot and software licenses to Pennsylvania College of Technology for instructional use in manufacturing engineering programs.

ABB, based in Zurich, Switzerland, with U.S. operations headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, is providing $150,000 worth of software licenses for offline programming of its YuMi robot, which the college has purchased. This eliminates the need for programming at the robot itself using the teach pendant. The software can communicate with all ABB robots to download and upload files. Software benefits include freeing the robot for production or maintenance and allowing multiple programmers simultaneously to create and edit programs.  In manufacturing, today, most robot programs are created offline and “touched up” at production lines.

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Plastics professionals from throughout the country sharpened their skills and enhanced their knowledge at a recent workshop hosted by Pennsylvania College of Technology and its acclaimed Plastics Innovation & Resource Center.

The Rotational Molding & Advanced Materials Workshop offered a mix of lecture and hands-on instruction for 30 individuals representing 11 states and numerous companies. Seventeen attended the two-day course in person, and 13 participated remotely.

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From the Spring 2021 Penn College Magazine: Extraordinary curiosity led Fletcher Ewing, ’98, from childhood Soap Box Derbies to an innovation-filled career. His latest role is senior mechanical engineer for X, developing robots with the humanlike capacity to learn. Read “Revolutionizing Robotics.”

Interested in the production of such items as water bottles and eyeglass lenses, but intimidated by the somewhat cryptic vocabulary of the industry? Instructor Joshua J. Rice, a Spring 2013 graduate of Penn College and co-department head for plastics and polymer technology, demystifies the field with a plain-spoken virtual tour of the college’s industry-cherished labs. Join him for a four-minute glimpse at the five processes taught in the School of Engineering Technologies – blow molding, extrusion, injection molding, rotational molding and thermoforming – and the everyday products that result.

Four virtual workshops in April, continuing Penn College’s series of free community presentations, will provide expert advice on topics as richly varied as the institution’s curriculum portfolio.

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Nearly two dozen students from Pennsylvania College of Technology jump-started their careers by securing a key industry certification related to computer-aided design.

The 22 students – representing six majors from the School of Engineering Technologies – passed the SolidWorks Certified Associate exam and obtained SolidWorks CSWA Certification. SolidWorks is a prominent solid modeling computer-aided design and engineering program used in manufacturing industries worldwide.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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