About 100 electrical students per semester are benefiting from seven revamped labs at Pennsylvania College of Technology.
Housed in the Electrical Technologies Center, one of the oldest buildings on campus, the labs feature the latest industry-standard equipment and provide individual instructional stations for students enrolled in one of several electrical programs.
“We’re really excited because we’re taking a deeper dive into some of the lab work we can do because of the space that we have,” said Stacey C. Hampton, assistant dean of industrial and computer technologies. “I think somebody coming in this year and moving through is going to see and do more than we were able to offer before.”
Penn College put a new spin on its year-end celebration for 2020, offering a door-decorating competition in lieu of the large-scale wooden greetings that have annually graced the campus mall for decades. A total of 29 entrants – 14 student organizations and 15 offices/departments – vied for the top three honors in each category, acknowledging a variety of holiday and faith traditions. Student winners were awarded $200, $150 and $100 for their club accounts, respectively; winning employee groups will be treated to a Le Jeune Chef Restaurant-catered lunch (first place) or breakfast (second and third places). Entries were judged by third-shift General Services employees, who made the rounds after Wednesday’s 9 p.m. completion deadline.
Pennsylvania College of Technology’s horticulture department delivered 450 poinsettia plants to UPMC Susquehanna on Thursday for distribution to health care workers.
The plants are annually grown in the Schneebeli Earth Science Center greenhouse for a holiday sale, but ongoing COVID-19 concerns prompted the traditional event’s cancellation. Instead, senior administration agreed that the poinsettias should be donated to front-line workers in hopes of bringing some seasonal cheer in the midst of their selfless service.
In January, Pennsylvania College of Technology’s paramedic program will launch a hybrid instruction option that combines in-person and online learning.
Designed to provide flexibility for EMTs who want to complete a paramedic education program while continuing to work, the lecture portion of the paramedic coursework will be both livestreamed and recorded for later viewing by those who use the hybrid instruction model. For students who prefer the traditional experience, lectures will continue to be held in-person.
Hammer, Caputo, Placencia, Beaver and Jones (from left) collaboratively conquer the towering task before them.Placencia, an Army ROTC cadet who will be commissioned as a second lieutenant later this month, affixes a ball filled with ribbons from a prior year’s fundraiser.Nearing the end of the line, Beaver (left), Jones and Caputo fill in the gaps with one final strand.No longer a work in progress, the tree awaits nightfall …… when the landscape becomes magically and magnificently complete! (Photo by Tim Wegman, student photographer)
Five members of Penn College’s active military community made quick work of their year-end assignment on Thursday afternoon, hanging stars and other ornaments on the Veterans Holiday Tree outside Madigan Library. General Services employees strung colored lights before Thanksgiving, and this week’s crew – capitalizing on the time-saving use of wire, rather than individually placing each star – closed out its mission in less than a half-hour. The tree is across Hagan Way from The Major General Fred F. Marty, USA Retired, Veterans & Military Resource Center, whence the decorating team mobilized: Chet Beaver, coordinator of veteran and military services; and students Nathan L. Caputo, of South Williamsport, building construction technology; Nick J. Hammer, of Lock Haven, information technology: network specialist concentration; Emily J. Jones, of Avis, accounting; and Andrew Placencia, of Reading, automotive technology management. There are 339 stars on the tree this year, honoring members of the Penn College family who self-identify as veterans or active-duty servicemen and women.
An international honor society dedicated to information technology has recognized the excellence of a Pennsylvania College of Technology student.
Jacob A. Bamonte, of Milton, is one of eight students nationwide to receive a $1,500 Academic Achievement Award from Upsilon Pi Epsilon. With chapters at over 290 colleges and universities worldwide, UPE is the only international honor society for students, faculty and computing professionals who exhibit superior scholastic and professional achievement in computing and information disciplines.
Pennsylvania College of Technology recently revamped more than a half-dozen labs in its Electrical Technologies Center. The labs, which serve four electrical degree programs, consist of new equipment and scores of individual work stations for students. About 100 students per semester receive vital hands-on experience in the industry-standard labs – including Tyler J. Snook, a mechatronics major from Williamsport. “In this field where everything is hands-on, if you don’t get any of that experience, you’ll get out there and someone will be like, ‘Hey, work on this,” and you’ll have no idea where to begin,” he says in a video about the labs’ comprehensive upgrade.
The extracurricular work of Pennsylvania College of Technology students Jonathan D. Yeagy, of Harrisburg, and Andrew E. Young, of Hollidaysburg, has provided an online face for an 11-year-old’s budding nonprofit.
Through a newly formed partnership, Terex Corp. is providing the latest technology to Pennsylvania College of Technology with the donation of a new crane engine and four drive axles.
The equipment, valued at nearly $70,000, will be used to enhance instruction in the college’s heavy construction equipment technology and diesel technology programs.
Capitol Eatery employees decorated the tops of the to-go boxes as they prepared to deliver Thanksgiving meals.KDR staff puts smiley-face stickers on meal orders to brighten students’ day!
Penn College’s Dining Services staff has been collectively called an “essential hero” for preparing and providing nourishment to students cloistered by the coronavirus.
“We have delivered just over 2,500 meals since Aug. 5 – continuously – to 380 affected students in isolation and quarantine on campus,” director Mark J. Leo said Monday.
The addition of two automation degrees is powering a new electronics lab at Pennsylvania College of Technology.
Located in the Center for Business & Workforce Development, the 906-square-foot space is accommodating about 60 students per semester who are seeking an automation engineering technology baccalaureate degree in either mechatronics or robotics.
“Industry was telling us that they liked what our students were doing, but they were looking for more because of the growth of automation in industry,” said Stacey C. Hampton, assistant dean of industrial and computer technologies. “We looked at what we already had and how we could expand on that. When we expanded the program, we needed to expand the space. Now that we put stuff in there, I don’t know if it’s big enough!”
Madison Y. Cooper, a culinary arts technology and applied management student and part-time Le Jeune Chef cook, wraps a pan of stuffing, ready to be baked on Friday. She is from Harrisburg.Patrick E. Hufnagle, of Antes Fort, places the dough for a batch of pumpkin cranberry rolls in a dough divider/rounder.After its turn in the divider/rounder, the dough is portioned, shaped and ready to bake.Hufnagle is a baking and pastry arts and applied management student, plus a part-time baker for Le Jeune Chef.
In an effort to preserve at least one tradition in a year that has been anything but normal, Le Jeune Chef staff and students are preparing a free Thanksgiving feast for the dozens of students who have opted to stay on campus during the holiday break or are isolating.
While some of the prep work was completed Wednesday, the small crew will return to campus from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday to complete and individually package the traditional, handmade Thanksgiving dinners.
General Services’ Mary Jo DeVinney and Chad L. Karstetter rise to the occasion in side-by-side buckets.Perspective affirms the scope of the undertaking, aided on the ground by Michael L. Bremigen (at the tree’s base) and Barbie A. Myers (behind the truck).Festively festooned, the spruce offers its silent salute.From top to bottom, a cascade of colorAcknowledging the street-level audience
First-shift horticulturists from General Services laid the far-above-groundwork for decorating the Veterans Holiday Tree outside Madigan Library, stringing the underlying red, white and blue lights that honor the Penn College family’s servicewomen and men. The tribute will resume on the afternoon of Dec. 3, when a crew led by Chet Beaver, coordinator of veteran and military services, will add stars and other ornaments denoting the nearly 300 campus community members who have self-identified as active-duty or veteran military personnel. The tree on the northeast side of the library has been decorated annually since 2017; its successor on the other side of Hagan Way was felled due to disease.
The COVID pandemic did not deter a “week of togetherness” as College Relations invited alumni, corporate partners, students, parents and friends to celebrate, virtually, all the ways they Transform Tomorrow, Together.
The addition of two automation engineering technology baccalaureate degrees is powering a new electronics laboratory at Penn College. The lab is equipped with 16 student-installed Programmable Logic Controller stations (featuring both Allen-Bradley and Siemens PLCs), four Kuka industrial robots and a conveyer system. “We recruited the whole class that came in now, these freshmen, without having that lab,” said Stacey C. Hampton, assistant dean of industrial and computer technologies. “So having that lab now is just going to add another layer of excitement. They can see all the learning stations. They can see the robots. They can see the conveyer system.” The lab is for the “tomorrow makers” seeking an automation degree in either mechatronics or robotics.
