News about Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies

Corvette Club Adds $10,000 to Its Scholarship Fund at Penn College

A 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport, an award-winning restoration project completed by Penn College students, is showcased at the Susquehanna Valley Corvette Club’s "Corvettes on Main Street" event in Muncy in 2016.

Financial aid opportunities for students in Pennsylvania College of Technology’s automotive restoration technology and related majors got a substantial boost through a recent scholarship donation from the Susquehanna Valley Corvette Club.

Club members delivered a $10,000 check to the college, representing proceeds from its popular “Corvettes on Main Street” car show held each fall in Muncy.

Awards from the Susquehanna Valley Corvette Club Scholarship Fund are made each fall to a first-year student from the organization’s 10-county membership area who is enrolled full time in automotive technology, automotive service sales and marketing, collision repair technology or automotive restoration technology.

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Automotive Restoration Students Assisted by RPM Foundation

Two rounds of funding from the RPM Foundation, magnanimously dedicated to cultivating the next generation of automotive restoration and preservation professionals, will assist a number of Pennsylvania College of Technology students with educational and living expenses.

“We are very grateful to the RPM Foundation for their support of our students,” said Elizabeth A. Biddle, Penn College’s director of corporate relations. “These gifts recognize that the future of automotive restoration lies in the hands of capable women and men who have a reverence for historic vehicles and a passion that will sustain their craft for years to come.”

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Antique Autos Motor Onto Campus During Regional Road Trip

Passing beneath a fitting banner, antique cars enter a campus at which the past is prologue.

Collision repair instructor Roy H. Klinger (with microphone) and automotive restoration technology student Teague W. Ohl, of Cogan Station, offer a hands-on demonstration in CAL.

Le Jeune Chef and Les Voitures Anciennes blend at the center of campus.

Part of the group venture to the library, where a pair of museum pieces – "Herbie," the Disney icon, and an 1899 Winton Phaeton – catch their collective eye.

Vintage Tour 2017 follows a scenic route to remember.

The Antique Automobile Club of America’s “Waterfalls, Mountains and Valleys” five-day tour of the Twin Tiers included a Friday stop at Penn College, home to one of the country’s few automotive restoration majors. About 100 drivers in 50 vintage vehicles converged on main campus to visit Madigan Library and College Avenue Labs and enjoy lunch before hitting the open road again.
First two photos by Becky J. Shaner, manager of student/alumni engagement and special events

Volvo Video Celebrates Corporate Support of Education

Grouped near a Volvo excavator at the training site, alongside the West Branch of the Susquehanna River south of the Schneebeli Earth Science Center, are (from left): Flood, Breon, Peck, Hoffman, Witmer and Justin W. Beishline, assistant dean of transportation and natural resources technologies.

Peck (center) and Hoffman talk with Amy Crouse, Volvo Construction Equipment's product marketing and communication specialist.

Getting it on record, the crew talks with Flood ...

... and captures Witmer's hands-on perspective from behind the controls.

A long-standing partnership between Penn College and Volvo, emblematic of the corporate support that helps provide all six of the institution’s academic schools with relevant technology and laboratory tools, is extolled in a newly posted YouTube video filmed in May at the college’s heavy equipment training site in Brady Township. The visit by a crew from Volvo Construction Equipment in Shippensburg was arranged by Brian Hoffman, regional manager of Highway Equipment & Supply Co., itself a longtime supporter of students and faculty in the college’s School of Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies. Interviewed on camera at the work site were Makenzie E. Witmer, of Bellefonte, and Tyler M. Breon, of Millheim, both majoring in heavy construction equipment technology: operator emphasis; Ryan W. Peck, instructor of diesel equipment technology; and Highway Equipment’s Ryan Flood, a member of the college’s Heavy Construction Equipment Technician Emphasis Advisory Committee.

Eight Penn College Students Medal in National Competition

SkillsUSA

Eight students from the widest variety of academic majors ever to represent Pennsylvania College of Technology at the National Leadership and Skills Conference returned home with medals – including first-time successes in three competitive areas.

The contingent took one of three top places in five categories, and this year marked the first time that Penn College entrants medaled in Computer Programming, TeamWorks and Welding Sculpture.

“This really goes to show how well-prepared the students are from their respective fields and how great our instructors are here at the college. This is, by far, the most diverse group of students I’ve had go to the national competition,” said SkillsUSA adviser James N. Colton II, an assistant professor of welding. “The national skills competition gives us a chance to showcase our technical skills and show everyone why we’re a leader in applied technology.”

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Subterranean Senatorial History Surfaces in Automotive Lab

Retired from legislative duty in 1912, when a faster monorail system ferried Washington, D.C., VIPs through a 760-foot tunnel, the 1908 Studebaker averaged 225 trips a day at the height of its civil service.

Students (joined at right by Klinger, instructor of collision repair) equip the handsome cherry-bodied vehicle with batteries which, but for increased storage capacity, are largely unchanged from the turn of the 20th century.

Because the car moved backward and forward along its "subway" route, the driver would switch seats to face the direction of travel.

While students donned gloves to work on the vehicle, a similar protective covering was placed on the vehicle's original Firestone tires.

Van Stavoren, an assistant automotive professor, works with restoration students Alex M. Koser (left), of Mount Joy, and Nicholas C. Howland, of Woodbridge, Va.

An electric 1908 Studebaker, one of two original vehicles built to shuttle passengers underground from the Old Senate Building to the U.S. Capitol (including such literal heavyweights as President William Howard Taft) is being prepped by students for a prestigious weekend event. The vehicles were nicknamed “Peg” and “Tommy” during their heyday; the former is on display at the Studebaker Museum in South Bend, Indiana, and the latter is on loan to Penn College from the William E. Swigart Jr. Automobile Museum in Huntingdon. Patricia B. Swigart, vehicle owner and one of the earliest supporters of the college’s automotive restoration technology major, has never seen “Tommy” operated under its own power – a situation that restoration students and faculty hope to remedy at the Elegance at Hershey this Friday through Sunday. Electrical students in Christopher H. Van Stavoren’s Introduction to Restoration Procedures course installed 10 batteries in the vehicle during a Tuesday class in the Parkes Automotive Technology Center. Faculty colleague Roy H. Klinger said the students’ involvement in researching and preserving the Studebaker will be documented by the Historic Vehicle Association, which recognizes the cultural significance of the automobile. Preston T. Rose, a May restoration graduate, researched a 1932 McGee Roadster that was recently displayed on the Washington Monument mall as part of the HVA’s national register of historic vehicles.

Cross-Campus Collaboration Infuses Hundreds of Visiting Pupils

Horticulture instructor Carl J. Bower Jr. guides Warrior Run fourth-graders in a sensory exploration of the ESC’s plant life.

Roy A. Fletcher, assistant professor of business administration/banking and finance, talks with Stock Market Challenge participants from area high schools about the future of artificial intelligence in accounting. The School of Business & Hospitality hosted the grand finale celebration for the Stock Market Challenge, an annual competition for Lycoming County high schools and middle schools that is sponsored by the Williamsport Sun-Gazette.

Faculty members (and Penn College grads) Michael K. Patterson, welding lecturer, center, and Benjamin K. Myers, welding instructor, right, judge a competition among students enrolled in Penn College NOW welding courses. While their teachers attended professional development with Penn College faculty liaisons – a requirement to ensure that Penn College courses taught at high schools meet the same rigor as those taught on campus – the students showed their skill in shielded metal arc welding. Following the contest, they took part in a hands-on demonstration by Fronius USA, which has entrusted several pieces of equipment to the college.

In the closing weeks of the spring semester, the College Transitions Office and academic schools hosted more than half a dozen events for pupils in area elementary, middle and high schools. From a field trip for Warrior Run fourth-graders that spanned the main campus and Schneebeli Earth Science Center, to days set aside for students to visit the college labs that correspond with their Penn College NOW courses, hundreds of students received hands-on lessons in “degrees that work,” thanks to help from college faculty. Events for Penn College NOW students included a Horticulture Day, engineering design visit, Accounting Day, Web Page Design Day and Welding Day.

Volkswagen Owners Club Funds New Penn College Scholarship

James Yemzow, of the Harrisburg Area Volkswagen Owners Club, accompanied by another HAVOC member, Patricia Shaffer (left) presents a check for the club’s scholarship to Penn College President Davie Jane Gilmour.

The Harrisburg Area Volkswagen Owners Club has established a scholarship at Pennsylvania College of Technology for students enrolled in a unique major that features the restoration of classic and antique automobiles.

The new scholarship will benefit students enrolled in the automotive restoration technology Associate of Applied Science major offered by the School of Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies at Penn College.

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Penn College’s ‘Working Class’ TV Series Earns Second Telly Award

"Working Class" earns second Telly Award“Working Class: Build & Grow Green,” produced by Pennsylvania College of Technology and WVIA Public Media, has earned a 2017 Bronze Telly Award.

It is the second episode produced for the “Working Class” public television series and the second to win a Bronze Telly. “Working Class: Dream & Do” earned the award in 2016.

Acknowledged as a premier award for film and video productions, the Telly Award honors outstanding local, regional and cable programming. The 37th annual competition in 2017 considered more than 12,000 entries from all 50 states and five continents.

“As a national leader in applied technology education, Penn College has earned a reputation for combining academics with practical, hands-on education that prepares students to enter and advance in the world of work,” said Davie Jane Gilmour, president of the college. “The award-winning ‘Working Class’ series allows us to share our mission and passion for inspired learning with a public television audience.”

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Skilled-Trades Spokesman Again Champions Penn College Students

Penn College students Benjamin P. Coppola (left), of Danville, and Andrew M. Shane, of Boyertown, who have each been awarded $1,000 national tool scholarships, celebrate with diesel equipment technology instructor Chris S. Weaver (center).

For the seventh consecutive year, Pennsylvania College of Technology students have been selected for $1,000 national scholarships to help them buy tools for their imminent employment in the heavy construction equipment field.

Benjamin P. Coppola, of Danville, and Andrew M. Shane, of Boyertown – both about to graduate in heavy construction equipment technology: technician emphasis – were among the high-achieving students receiving funds through the mikeroweWORKS Foundation in partnership with the AED Foundation, an Associated Equipment Distributors affiliate.

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Penn College Students Bat a Thousand in SkillsUSA Competition

SkillsUSA-Pennsylvania

All 25 members of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s SkillsUSA team, including more than half moving on to national competition June 19-23 in Louisville, Kentucky, were medalists during the Pennsylvania Leadership and Skills Conference held late last month in Hershey.

Fifteen team members advanced to nationals with first-place finishes, seven placed second, and three placed third in their respective categories.

“I feel great about the students’ performance at the state competition. It goes to show how well prepared the students are from their respective fields and how great our instructors are here at the college,” said James N. Colton II, assistant professor of welding and the college’s SkillsUSA adviser. “I’m excited for the students going to the national competition in Louisville. I have every confidence they will put their best performance forward.”

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Last updated May 9, 2017 | Posted in Alumni, Architectural Technology, Art, Web Design & Interactive Media, Automated Manufacturing & Machining, Building Construction, Business & Hospitality, Business & Hospitality Management, Collision Repair & Restoration, Construction & Design Technologies, Electrical, Engineering Design Technology, Faculty & Staff, Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning, Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies, Information Technology, Students, Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies, Welding | Leave a comment

College’s Hydroponic Garden Yields Vegetables, Inspiration

Plant production students at Penn College are at the forefront of the “buy local, eat fresh” movement, thanks to the hydroponic garden at the college’s Schneebeli Earth Science Center. As assistant professor of horticulture Dennis P. Skinner explains, their cross-curricular collaboration culminates in the dishes crafted by culinary arts students in Le Jeune Chef Restaurant on campus. Along the way, the horticulture/landscape technology majors get a sense of something larger than themselves. “I think that’s one of the things that drives them,” Skinner says. “They want to be part of a community; they want to give back or provide, rather than being takers.”

Real-World Projects Allow Students to Leave Lasting Impact

From left, landscape/horticulture technology majors Gabriela J. Grandy, Belleville; Natasha M. Martin, Avis; and Noah L. English, Bloomsburg, straighten a cherry tree at the ESC.

At WAHS, students planted trees, shrubs and perennials to enhance this semester's community-service project

Completing the high school's legacy garden that incorporated students' skills, from design to ordering to installation

During a soggy Arbor Day week, one in which a damaging storm uprooted trees at Penn College and across the region, students fittingly did their part to beautify their natural surroundings. Horticulture instructor Carl J. Bower Jr. and his students performed maintenance on some of the trees in the Schneebeli Earth Science Center arboretum, and, at Williamsport Area High School (in a project that attracted front-page coverage in Tuesday’s Williamsport Sun-Gazette), Michael A. Dincher, assistant professor of horticulture, and students in his Landscape Construction (HRT 224) class put the finishing touches on a legacy garden near the Millionaires’ stadium.
Photos by Bower and Justin Shelinski, laboratory assistant for horticulture

Penn College Spring Commencement Ceremonies Set for May 12-13

Pennsylvania College of Technology will hold three commencement ceremonies May 12-13 at the Community Arts Center in Williamsport for the more than 900 students who have petitioned to graduate following the Spring 2017 semester.

More than 900 students have petitioned to graduate following the Spring 2017 semester at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Three commencement ceremonies will be offered on May 12-13 at the Community Arts Center, 220 W. Fourth St., Williamsport, with more than 780 students expected to march.

At 3 p.m. on Friday, May 12, a ceremony will be held for students from the School of Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies and the School of Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications.

On Saturday, May 13, two ceremonies are scheduled. At 10 a.m., students from the School of Construction & Design Technologies and the School of Health Sciences will receive their degrees. At 1:30 p.m., a ceremony will be offered for students from the School of Business & Hospitality and the School of Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies.

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Alumni-Led Industry Tours Reinforce Laboratory Learning

Penn College grad Paul R. South (in red hard hat) leads students on a tour of Danzer Veneers log yard.

Students in the Forest Products (FOR 210) class took field trips Tuesday to Wheeland Lumber Co. Inc. in Liberty and to Danzer Veneer Americas in Williamsport. At Wheeland Lumber, the students toured a high-production sawmill, log yard and millwork facility with Penn College alumni Damen R. (’00, forest technology, and ’03, technology management) and Derek E. (’03, business administration: banking and finance concentration) Wheeland. At Danzer Veneer, students visited the log yard and production facility with Paul R. South, a 2016 graduate in forest technology. “Both tours were educational for the students,” said Erich R. Doebler, laboratory assistant for forest technology, who accompanied the group and provided the photo. “It allows them to see in person and experience the manufacturing environment that is discussed in class.”