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Freeze-framing a day to remember

As faculty march to the stage, anticipation and fulfillment blend on a student's radiant face.

Pennsylvania College of Technology held its Fall 2018 commencement on Saturday, Dec. 22, in the Community Arts Center, bringing down the curtain − as winter officially arrives and the new year nears − on another season of academic success. The student speaker was Katherine Lynne Mertes, of Williamsport, who was awarded a bachelor’s degree in residential construction technology and management: building construction technology concentration. Also addressing the Class of ’18 was Joanna K. Flynn, associate professor of mathematics, who was presented with the Veronica M. Muzic Master Teacher Award in May. Civil engineering technology alumna Margaret A. Jackson received the Alumni Achievement Award during the ceremony, at which more than 300 degrees were conferred by college President Davie Jane Gilmour and Steven P. Johnson, president of UPMC Susquehanna and a member of the college’s Board of Directors.

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Read the college’s 2017-18 Impact Report: ‘Guarantee Momentum’

“Guarantee Momentum,” the Pennsylvania College of Technology 2017-18 Impact Report, is available online and is set to arrive in mailboxes in the coming days. Read the President’s Message and review the college’s efforts to empower industry, inspire innovation, prepare tomorrow makers and more.

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The height of humanitarianism

The president gamely prepares to step off the rooftop.

Penn College President Davie Jane Gilmour and Steven P. Johnson, president of UPMC Susquehanna and member of the college’s board of directors, were among more than 60 community-minded daredevils who rappelled from the nine-story William Hepburn Apartments on Saturday. Battling the elements (and obviously overcoming any descent-related anxiety), they joined their charitable colleagues in an Over the Edge fundraiser for the Williamsport Area School District Education Foundation, River Valley Regional YMCA and YWCA Northcentral PA.

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Future-seekers meet their match at Fall Open House

Savoring an autumn outing and academic exploration

Fall Open House visitors had unfettered access to Penn College’s vibrant campuses Sunday, as today’s faculty/staff, alumni and students provided them with a tantalizing view of a very real and credible tomorrow. All six academic schools put out the welcome mat through information sessions, tours and laboratory demonstrations, and guests were encouraged to explore the institution’s myriad complementary services and activities.

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The third time’s a charmer!

Enjoying the autumnal alumni evening (from left): Timothy D. Haldeman, ’11, manufacturing engineering technology; Michael D. Ferraiolo, ’10, aviation technology, and ‘11, aviation maintenance technology, and guest, Melyssa McHale; and Whitnie-rae (Mays) Haldeman, ’12, advertising art, and ’14, applied technology studies.

The disparate threads of Homecoming and Parent & Family Weekend were woven together again this fall, producing another seamless tapestry of fun and reconnection for graduates, current students and families. The third annual combined celebration kicked off with a Friday bonfire, tent party and Hall of Fame Banquet; continued Saturday with a presidential breakfast, Williamsport bus and trolley excursions, lab tours, a golf outing and on-campus sporting events, arts and crafts, and an alumni reunion at downtown nightspots; and concluded Sunday with more athletics and a fond farewell (until next year)!

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School of Nursing & Health Sciences hosts celebration

Pennsylvania College of Technology welcomed several School of Nursing & Health Sciences alumni back to campus to speak at an event celebrating the school’s name change, its academic majors, and milestone anniversaries for two programs: occupational therapy assistant (30 years) and physician assistant (20 years). From left are Megan Wright, ’12, a physician assistant practicing physical medicine and rehabilitation; Brian Webster, ’06, a nurse practitioner specializing in emergency and family nursing; President Davie Jane Gilmour; Sandra L. Richmond, dean of nursing and health sciences; and Michele “Mindy” Tedesco, ’88, a registered occupational therapist specializing in home health care.

The School of Nursing & Health Sciences at Pennsylvania College of Technology held a multifaceted celebration on Oct. 4 by hosting an open house of its facilities and welcoming accomplished alumni, who reflected on how their education has shaped their careers.

“We come together … to celebrate the positive impact all 10 of our nursing and health sciences programs have on our students’ lives, the professions in which they work, and the communities they serve,” said Sandra L. Richmond, dean of nursing and health sciences.

Of particular significance during the celebration was a change to the school’s name: from the School of Health Sciences to the School of Nursing & Health Sciences, and the anniversaries of the occupational therapy assistant program, whose first students graduated 30 years ago, and the physician assistant program, which graduated its first students 20 years ago.

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Lycoming Engines’ instructional support lauded at sign dedication

From left, Michael Kraft, senior vice president and general manager for Lycoming Engines; Pennsylvania College of Technology President Davie Jane Gilmour; and aviation technology student Warren K. Bitterman, of Zieglerville, Montgomery County, all spoke at a dedication ceremony honoring Lycoming Engines’ ongoing support for the college.

Lycoming Engines’ longtime support of Pennsylvania College of Technology and its academic programs was celebrated on campus recently with the unveiling of new signage at the college’s Metal Trades Center.

Members of the Penn College community and representatives of Lycoming Engines – including alumni of the college employed by the company – gathered on Oct. 2 to dedicate the Lycoming Engines Metal Trades Center sign on the front lawn of the facility.

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Ready for an out-of-reality experience?

Jim R. Dougherty III, assistant director of classroom technology and A/V services, assists the president with the VR headset.

The “launchpad” location for virtual exploration, in the rear hallway of the library’s second floor

Information Technology Services and Madigan Library will officially open Penn College’s new Virtual Reality Studio at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. Located on the south side of the library’s second floor, the configuration is powered by an Alienware Aurora PC, and includes a state-of-the-art HTC Vive Pro VR headset and controllers. The space is open to students and faculty for instructional and gaming use; hours will be 3-10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday (with special sessions available for faculty by appointment). Explore human anatomy with “The Body VR,” pilot a lunar mission with “Apollo 11 VR” or visit a fantasy world in “Skyrim VR,” among others. College President Davie Jane Gilmour sampled some of the adventure on Monday afternoon, spreading excitement about the addition to campus and encouraging attendance at Thursday’s open house. Contact the Office of Instructional Technology for more information.

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Cultivating a Community of Respect

A global gathering: Baptiste D. Coirier, from France; the Wildcat; Shanin L. Dougherty, coordinator of international programs; Samar Alquraish, from Saudi Arabia. Coirier is an exchange student from Abertay University in Scotland, studying accounting and finance. Alquraish is a pre-nursing student working toward her Bachelor of Science degree.

Penn College is participating in Welcoming Week (Sept. 14-23), a national appreciation of international students and their collective contributions to campus culture. “Students from all over the world are a vital part of our campus, bringing fresh perspectives and new ideas, which contribute to the vibrant diversity that we all value,” President Davie Jane Gilmour said in a commemorative proclamation. “This week, we honor the spirit of unity that is bringing people together across the nation and the world. Regardless of where we are born or what we look like, we are Penn College, united in our efforts to build a stronger campus and greater future.” As part of the celebration – which featured an appropriately hashtagged cake and selfies with the Wildcat – friends and colleagues were invited to show their support of global education during an informal get-together in the Bush Campus Center lobby Wednesday afternoon. Penn College has 24 students from nine countries: France, Ghana, India, Iran, Oman, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.

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Employees’ Shared Responsibility Infuses New Semester’s Launch

At the dawn of 2018-19 classes, Pennsylvania College of Technology President Davie Jane Gilmour gathered with faculty and staff Thursday morning to set a resolute tone for the fall semester. Summarizing the swirl of summer activity – and a wide range of developments from facilities to personnel to athletics – she ended with a reminder that inspiring students is the true bottom line. “When reflecting on the start of a new academic year, so much comes to my mind,” the president told an all-college audience in the Klump Academic Center Auditorium. “First, the new students, fresh ideas, a slight bit of fear, and, yet, their entrusting us to help shape their future. The excitement, the realization of the responsibility we all share and the knowledge that, if all goes right, we will make a difference in their lives and they in ours. Yes, the challenges, the opportunities and the bumps along the road are real and, at times, frustrating. But … for all the challenges we face, the joy in knowing we are some small part of creating ‘tomorrow makers’ fixes everything.”

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Picnic/Parade Doubleheader Opens LLB World Series

Teams may be opponents within days, but abundant smiles are on the menu at the campus cookout.

Pennsylvania College of Technology once again helped to welcome visitors to Williamsport for the Little League Baseball World Series, which begins Thursday and concludes Aug. 26. Prior to formation of the Grand Slam Parade near the northwest corner of campus, the college hosted its traditional picnic for players, coaches, team uncles, umpires and other LLBWS notables. Among the highlights of the march down West Fourth Street was a 1939 Buick Roadmaster from the college’s automotive restoration technology major, commemorating the year that Little League was born. The car is featured on this year’s Penn College trading pin, which was attached to a cleverly designed baseball card and distributed along the parade route.

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‘Makerspace’ Formally Dedicated at Penn College

Marshall D. Welch III, his mother Mary and other family members enjoy the evening honoring the Welch patriarch.

Designed by students and funded by a forward-thinking group of individual and industry benefactors, a space designed to inspire interdisciplinary innovation and collaboration has opened its doors at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Dedication ceremonies were held Aug. 14 for The Dr. Welch Workshop: A Makerspace at Penn College, a facility constructed in the Carl Building Technologies Center on the main campus.

Donors – as well as members of the college’s Board of Directors, Corporate Advisory Board, the Penn College Foundation Board and the campus community – gathered in the makerspace to hear about its genesis and to view, in makerspace parlance, its spaces for “clean” (computers, 3D printers, sewing machines and vinyl cutters, etc.) and “dirty” (saws, drill presses, routers, lathes and CNC mills) activities to take place within.

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Make Way for Tomorrow

Commemorating a man whose home workshop – "a place where wisdom and camaraderie were dispensed in equal measure" – was decades ahead of the "makerspace" concept

A makerspace, providing a fertile environment for innovation and imagination – and the tools with which students can turn visions into reality – was dedicated in Penn College’s Carl Building Technologies Center on Tuesday. The student-designed Dr. Welch Workshop memorializes Dr. Marshall Welch Jr., a local orthodontist and longtime philanthropist, who died in 2012. The Welch family, including son Marshall III, is the principal donor for the facility; George E. “Herman” Logue Jr. supported the so-called “dirty space” (the Logue Fabritorium) and Frederick T. Gilmour, faculty emeritus, made a commitment for the “clean space” (the Gilmour Tinkertorium). The ceremony spotlighted the students and faculty members who brainstormed the idea into existence, and included representative comments from Rob A. Wozniak, associate professor of architectural technology: “With the many students from various majors that will use this makerspace, it is hoped that they take the opportunity to collaborate with others. To create. To explore. To learn about the tools that they may otherwise never have been able to have access to. To try another way of doing something. To invent (and maybe even patent) something new! And, as a result, Penn College, the community and the world will all benefit … from this amazing collaborative effort.”

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Sen. Roger Madigan, Longtime Supporter of Penn College, Dies at 88

Roger A. Madigan, in the library that bears his name

Former Sen. Roger A. Madigan, ardent advocate for Pennsylvania College of Technology and a longtime member of the college’s Board of Directors, has died.

Madigan, 88, whose name adorns the Penn College library as a fitting tribute to his passion for education, served on the board from 1991 until his retirement from the state Senate at the end of 2008.

Madigan was elected to the state Senate in 1984 to represent the 23rd District. Previously, he served in the state House of Representatives, representing the 110th District, from 1977-84. Before becoming an elected official, Madigan was a dairy farmer and an insurance underwriter/consultant.

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Sen. Yaw Hosts Government Seminar for Area High School Students

Young leaders from South Williamsport are ready to debate the issues.

A total of 240 students from 16 school districts in Bradford, Lycoming and Union counties converged on Pennsylvania College of Technology’s campus on Thursday to participate in the annual Student Government Seminar hosted by state Sen. Gene Yaw (R-23), who also serves as chairman of the Penn College Board of Directors. The seminar gives high school students the opportunity to debate important issues, develop legislation and vote on “mock bills” in an open session.

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