Fifty-five years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called for all Americans to stand up to injustice, Pennsylvania College of Technology’s leader – reflecting on a beloved nation again riven by social unrest – urged a renewed embrace of that civic responsibility. “Now is not the time for silence or inaction,” President Davie Jane Gilmour said in a campuswide email to students and employees. “Now, more than five decades later, it is again time for action. We must call out racial injustice and inequality, whenever we encounter it, in clear and unequivocal terms.”
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Penn College students earn industry certifications
Pennsylvania College of Technology students proved their workforce acumen by earning industry certifications related to computer-aided design.
The students – representing three majors from the School of Engineering Technologies – passed exams dedicated to SolidWorks, a prominent 3D CAD software tool. The tests require candidates to meet several hands-on challenges, representing various aspects of the software.
Faculty & Staff President Students
Students to return for Fall 2020 classes
Penn College’s Fall 2020 plan for the return of in-person instruction was announced Friday morning by President Davie Jane Gilmour, who matched that commitment with assurances to students and parents alike of the expansive pandemic protocols “to mitigate risk and offer safe interaction on campus.”
Business, Arts & Sciences Construction Management Engineering Technologies Human Services & Restorative Justice Students
Students provide pandemic help through PA National Guard
Construction management student Mason E. Blethen and human services and restorative justice student Kristien T. Quintanilla are two of at least three Pennsylvania College of Technology students called to provide emergency support through the Pennsylvania National Guard during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Quintanilla, of Jersey Shore, a combat medic in the Guard, was one of 18 members of the Pennsylvania National Guard who reported to the Broomall Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Delaware County to assist with staffing shortages. The group, a mix of military nurses and medics, provided routine care to non-acute patients beginning April 18.
Alumni Engineering Technologies Faculty & Staff General Information Students Welding
Penn College welding faculty, students build ‘Living Chapel’
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.”
Dental Hygiene Faculty & Staff General Information Nursing & Health Sciences Students
Speaker provides timely inspiration to dental hygiene students
Last week, the Pennsylvania College of Technology’s dental hygiene program held a special event for its first- and second-year students, engaging an international motivational speaker who is well-known in the dental field to speak with students via videoconference.
“Our students have been going through such turmoil during this COVID-19 pandemic, that we felt the need to lift their spirits,” said Shawn A. Kiser, the college’s director of dental hygiene.
Diesel & Power Generation Engineering Technologies Faculty & Staff Heavy Equipment Students
Diesel instructor receives Caterpillar ‘Pathfinder’ award
A member of the diesel equipment technology faculty has been honored by Pennsylvania College of Technology and Caterpillar Inc. with the annual “Pathfinder to Excellence” award.
John D. Motto, an instructor at the college’s Schneebeli Earth Science Center near Allenwood, is the latest recipient of an award presented since 2003 to someone who “develops effective teaching techniques, enhances learning materials, demonstrates a keen sensitivity to student needs and maintains high academic standards.”
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Lycoming Housing launches improved website with student help
A recent real-world project by students at Pennsylvania College of Technology represented a valuable learning and portfolio-building experience for the students, and well-timed good fortune for a local nonprofit that had been looking for just the services the students could provide.
“Well over a year prior to Penn College contacting us, Lycoming Housing had begun to seriously look into starting what, to us, was sure to be a long and arduous process of replacing our old and outdated website,” explained Andy Gerrity, of Lycoming Housing Authority.
Aviation Engineering Technologies Faculty & Staff Students
Penn College aviation students receive industry scholarships
Four Pennsylvania College of Technology students were recently awarded aviation scholarships: two from the Helicopter Foundation International/Helicopter Association International and two from Women in Aviation International.
All four are enrolled in the four-year aviation maintenance technology major, based at Penn College’s Lumley Aviation Center in Montoursville.
Admissions Scholarships Students
Penn College transfer scholarships available to PTK members
Active members of the Phi Theta Kappa international honor society who transfer to Pennsylvania College of Technology may be eligible for financial assistance.
The college will award five $2,500 Phi Theta Kappa Transfer Student Scholarships beginning in the Fall 2020 semester. Each is renewable for the duration of full-time study to complete a baccalaureate degree, provided the recipient maintains a minimum 2.5 graduation GPA.
Students
Penn College discounting tuition for active-duty military
Continuing its tradition of supporting the nation’s heroes, Pennsylvania College of Technology is offering discounted tuition for active-duty military during the 2020-21 Academic Year.
Active-duty military can receive a discounted tuition rate of $250 per semester credit hour, up to a maximum of 18 credit hours or $4,500 per fiscal year.
Alumni Students
Alum answers call for students impacted by pandemic
With students and parents alike experiencing the financial fallout of the devastating pandemic, a college alumnus – whose Williamsport Area Community College forestry degree was a crucial initial step toward a successful career in civil engineering – is leading by philanthropic example. John Urick, a 1974 graduate of Penn College’s immediate successor institution, recently routed his stimulus deposit to an Emergency Scholarship Fund administered by the college’s Institutional Advancement Office. Urick has a history of donating to his alma mater, from which a son, granddaughter and three cousins also have graduated. “I feel obligated to help current students in their pursuit of useful life skills,” we writes in a recently published blog entry. “Giving now, though, at this moment, is critical. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, large numbers of students are in jeopardy of not finishing their education because of financial stress caused by losing critical part-time jobs, compounded by some parents their losing jobs. The thought of students’ education being disrupted and their lives changed forever is unbearable to me.” Those inspired to join him in empowering students are encouraged to consider a gift to the emergency fund.
Faculty & Staff Students
Penn College grads commissioned in online ROTC ceremony
Six Pennsylvania College of Technology seniors were among eight Bald Eagle Battalion Army ROTC cadets commissioned as second lieutenants Saturday during a virtual ceremony, the culmination of their four-year transformation from cadets to officers.
With family members and other supporters joining them in person and on computer screens, Penn College students sworn into service are Hayden N. Beiter, of Cogan Station; Casey A. Curtin, of Berwick; Alex Hackenberg, of Middleburg; William M. Johnson, of Glen Mills; Jordan H. Murray, of Chambersburg; and Austin S. Weinrich, of Jenkintown. Curtin is a plastics and polymer engineering technology major; Hackenberg is enrolled in information technology: network specialist concentration; and Beiter, Johnson, Murray and Weinrich are graduating this year in residential construction technology and management: building construction technology concentration.
Engineering Design Technology Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Plastics & Polymer Students
Student uses know-how, home equipment to make face shields
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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Online architecture exhibit showcases students’ talents
Celebrating the talents of graduating seniors, Architecture & Sustainable Design 2020 is viewable on The Gallery at Penn College’s webpage.
The online exhibit showcases the work of students earning Bachelor of Science degrees in Pennsylvania College of Technology’s building science and sustainable design major.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a May 14 opening reception was planned for the exhibit in The Gallery at Penn College; however, a shift from the physical space to an online showing was required.