“Second Nature,” the current exhibit at The Gallery at Penn College, is attracting educational interest from students and faculty, including psychology, sociology, English composition and art classes.
The most recent class to visit was Research Methods (SOC313), taught by Rob Cooley, associate professor of anthropology/environmental science, and Elizabeth E. Winder, assistant professor of human services.
Wednesday’s “Awesome Woman Exemplar” ceremony, the 16th annual tribute (and the second to be held virtually due to COVID safety protocols), honored 23 Penn College students for notable service to their campus, classmates and community.
The 2021 inductees were applauded by a college administrator and celebrated in slideshow comments from their nominators in a video. Sammie L. Davis, coordinator of diversity and student engagement, welcomed online viewers and introduced the event’s keynoter: Carolyn R. Strickland, vice president for enrollment management and associate provost.
A Haas 5-axis Universal Machining Center (Model 500), poised to take Penn College’s machining curriculum to a new level, was delivered to College Avenue Labs on Tuesday morning. Purchased at an educational discount through a partnership with Phillips Corp. in Bensalem, the equipment adds the versatility of a rotational axis that allows for easier shaping of harder-to-machine parts – picture a jet engine turbine blade, for instance. The equipment will be the focus of the new course, Advanced CNC Multi-Axis Programming and Machining, in which students will be able to insert a piece of metal and produce a finished product with specialized and complicated machining details. Such equipment in industry reduces setup time and increases accuracy for multisided and complex parts, said Richard K. Hendricks Jr., instructor of machine tool technology/automated manufacturing, and greatly boosts students’ marketability. “For students to learn on this technology, it will further enhance their ability to be productive and effective employees the moment they enter the manufacturing floor for their internship or full-time career,” he said. “We can’t thank Phillips Corp. enough for their partnership to help make this possible.”
As part of Penn College’s observance of Women’s History Month, a pair of student organizations sponsored a themed paint-by-number event on the Bush Campus Center Patio on Monday afternoon. Participants could choose among the likenesses of a number of female icons, including late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former first lady Michelle Obama. Partnering to offer the event were the Theta Phi Alpha sorority and Penn College Women in Construction.
Photos by Juvy A. Orillaza, student photographer
The librarian for information technology initiatives at Pennsylvania College of Technology has written one of 13 accepted chapters in the American Library Association’s “Technical Services in the 21st Century,” spotlighting the substantial behind-the-scenes work that allows students to seamlessly access scholarly digital material.
Jessica Urick Oberlin wrote “Data of e-Resources: Moving Forward with Assessment” for the 42nd volume of Emerald Publishing’s “Advances in Library Administration and Organization” series.
“In college and university libraries, students sit down to finally start their research paper. After a failed Google search, they reach the library’s website hoping to see results that match their expectations,” her 20-page chapter begins. “Will this be a pleasant experience for them? Or will they turn elsewhere for the answers they seek?”
On the one-year anniversary of the coordinated emergency response to COVID-19, Pennsylvania College of Technology students had the opportunity to hear from the director of the Snohomish County (Washington) Department of Emergency Management, whose jurisdiction includes the country’s first confirmed case of the coronavirus.
Jason M. Biermann spoke with Penn College students on March 2, part of a series of presentations arranged by David E. Bjorkman, instructor of emergency management/social science at the college.
Biermann told his audience that he got involved in emergency management “by accident … literally” when he lost his wallet after getting a flu shot through the local health department. Returning to reclaim it, he noticed a job posting – “hiring for a public health response coordinator” – and pursued it.
Drew R. Potts, assistant professor and head of Penn College’s civil engineering/surveying technology department, headlines a virtual tour of a dynamic career field. Alongside a handful of impressive alumni and students about to graduate from the program, Potts opens viewers’ eyes to the expansive opportunities available to graduates, making their mark – and making a difference – in the places where we work and play. “I recommend this major solely because of the professors. They’re amazing!” says Sarah E. Booher, of Orangeville, one of two current civil engineering technology students helping to guide the video tour. “They have real-world experience within the field before they become a professor, and they’re great at answering any questions that you have – from material questions to internships to postcollege life. Anything that you really have, they’re really good at answering and being honest with you.” Interested in designing bridges, routing highways or otherwise shaping the world in which we live? Take the tour and weigh your options!
A total of 3,546 meals were provided to 484 Penn College students in COVID-related isolation or quarantine so far this academic year, according to Dining Services statistics shared Thursday with the administration.
Figures through February break down into: dinner, 1,258; lunch, 877; breakfast, 817; and brunch, 243. In addition, 351 bagged items (muffins, noodle bowls, sandwiches, snacks, etc.) were given to students who began the testing/isolation process after Dining Services made its deliveries for the day.
The highest number of total meals was 915 in September; November was second with 800. Wildcat Athletics coaches helped make some of the meal dropoffs, it was noted, indicative of the institution’s collaborative approach to serving students affected by the pandemic.
Eyeing careers in engineering design, five Pennsylvania College of Technology students bolstered their resumes by earning an impressive industry certification.
The students – all seeking a bachelor’s degree in engineering design technology – passed the Certified SolidWorks Professional exam. The resulting certification proves the students’ advanced skills with SolidWorks, a prominent solid modeling computer-aided design and engineering program employed in manufacturing industries worldwide.
Several Penn College students and two employee mentors assisted with a local Habitat for Humanity build at 702 Diamond St. in Newberry on Saturday, March 13, one of two recent opportunities to volunteer on behalf of the Greater Williamsport area.
An Emergency Management Leadership Series, featuring topic experts recruited by a Pennsylvania College of Technology faculty member to provide his students with topical and credible perspectives from their chosen career fields, recently kicked off with a presentation by Amazon’s global business continuity and supply chain risk leader.
Andrew Owlett, among the corporate professionals who generously answered a LinkedIn solicitation from David E. Bjorkman, instructor of emergency management/social science, visited with Penn College emergency management and information assurance and cyber security students over Zoom.
While he has only been with Amazon for less than a year, Owlett brings to his position an eye-opening breadth of knowledge accrued since his teenage days – the time he realized that his goal was, quite simply, to help people.
Students in Drew R. Potts’ Structural Steel Design class got a unique look at one of the academically advantageous areas in which Penn College has major bragging rights: the real-world credibility of its faculty members. Among his positions before joining the college family in 2008, Potts worked as an engineering manager and as a design engineer for a steel fabrication facility … and among the projects on which he worked was the college’s Student & Administrative Services Center, constructed in 2002 and dedicated the following February. The class convened Friday morning in the SASC lobby, where – distanced by necessity and connected by technology – they reviewed original architectural drawings and conveniently compared them to the full-size structure that rose from those blueprints. Among the life lessons imparted by Potts, an assistant professor and department head for civil engineering and surveying technology, is the need for communication given the frequent and substantial changes that occur between groundbreaking and ribbon-cutting.
As part of its support for positive behavior, as well as teaching children to be kind, safe and respectful, the Dunham Children’s Learning Center has launched a mini-trend well worth promoting. “We have placed the word ‘kind’ – minus the ‘I’ in ‘kind’ – in the hallway outside our center, encouraging our kiddos and students, faculty, etc., to join in the fun,” noted Linda A. Reichert, the center’s director, who said students have paused to snap photos to share on their social media accounts with the hashtag #PCTBEKIND. Optimistic for a groundswell, we offer this inspiring representation from across the Penn College community. After all, it’s our “kind” of story!
Photos provided
Think you have what it takes to design the future? Meet Dorothy J. Gerring, associate professor of architectural technology and 31-year member of the Penn College faculty, who discusses the program and leads a virtual tour of the hands-on studio spaces on the second floor of the Carl Building Technologies Center. Outlining how the college’s two architectural degrees prepare graduates for immedite employment, Gerring says “We have a really good blend of our classes between not only some of the theoretical things – ’cause you have to be able to imagine and understand how concepts fit into things over time and across different disciplines – but also very, very solid foundational items so that, as soon as you’re graduating, you can actually walk in an office and you know what a set of working drawings are, and you can be able to be good on the job from the first day that you’re there.”
Organized by Student Affairs and championed through social media, the Penn College community raised its collective voice this week in the annual “Yellow It Out” observance. Students, faculty and staff were asked to wear yellow and share their photos using the #pcthope hashtag. Events throughout the week reinforced the message, and resource tables provided worthwhile information on suicide prevention and awareness.