Workforce Development

Events Faculty & Staff Workforce Development

Summit illustrates benefits of schools’ pre-apprenticeship programs

Michele Edwards, human resources manager at First Quality Enterprises, the summit’s sponsor and a participant in the college's apprenticeship program, discusses “Why industry is engaged in pre-apprenticeship.”

Workforce Development at Penn College welcomed scores of school administrators, counselors and teachers Tuesday to its 2019 Pre-Apprenticeship Summit, where educators learned how to prepare today’s high school students for the in-demand, high-skilled careers of tomorrow. A full agenda covered various facets of pre-apprenticeships – what they are, the benefits of integration into the secondary curriculum, and how they can pave students’ path to both college and career. Featured speakers at the Thompson Professional Development Center event were Eric Ramsay, director of the Apprenticeship and Training Office, Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry; Christina Herman, Career Ready specialist for the state Department of Education; and Stephen Herzenberg, executive director of the Keystone Research Center. Also presenting was Ross A. Berger, a client development specialist at the college.

Automated Manufacturing & Machining Faculty & Staff General Information Plastics & Polymer Welding Workforce Development

State House speaker, colleagues tour campus labs

The group intently listens to President Gilmour in the college's welding addition. From left are Reed; Turzai; Borowicz; Owlett's wife, Lauren; and Owlett. — The group intently listens to President Gilmour in the college’s welding addition. From left are Reed; Turzai; Borowicz; Owlett’s wife, Lauren; and Owlett.

David R. Cotner (second from right), dean of industrial, computing and engineering technologies, takes the group by the expanded facility's impressive new plasma equipment. — David R. Cotner (second from right), dean of industrial, computing and engineering technologies, takes the group by the expanded facility’s impressive new plasma equipment.

John M. Good III, instructor of automation and computer integrated manufacturing, leads a tour in College Avenue Labs.

The group pauses in front of a ProtoTrak lathe, among equipment purchased with a National Science Foundation grant to combat the skills gap in advanced manufacturing. From left are Owlett, Wheeland, Turzai, Yaw and Borowicz.

Shannon M. Munro (in light blue), vice president for workforce development, discusses production activities in the Shell Polymers Rotational Molding Center of Excellence.

The speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives was among state legislators who visited Penn College on Thursday afternoon, touring several academic laboratories in the School of Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies. Comprising the group were Speaker Michael C. Turzai (R-McCandless), Rep. Stephanie Borowicz (R-Lock Haven), Rep. Clinton D. Owlett (R-Wellsboro), Rep. Jeff C. Wheeland (R-Williamsport) and Neil R. Lesher, Rep. Turzai’s chief of staff. During the lawmakers’ 90-minute stay, school administration and faculty – along with Workforce Development personnel – introduced them to welding and metal fabrication technologies, advanced manufacturing, and plastics and polymer engineering technologies. Facilitating the visit were President Davie Jane Gilmour; Michael J. Reed, vice president for academic affairs/provost; Patrick Marty, chief of staff and assistant to the president for college relations; and state Sen. Gene Yaw, chair of the college’s board of directors. Others on the tour included Lycoming County Commissioner-elect Scott L. Metzger and Fisher Mining Co.’s John A. Blaschak, one of the college’s corporate partners and a member of its Visionary Society.

Faculty & Staff NSSC Workforce Development

NSSC’s preeminent training spotlighted on National Weatherization Day

The director of Penn College’s National Sustainable Structures Center was invited to serve as guest blogger for the state Department of Community and Economic Development’s observance of National Weatherization Day on Wednesday. In her post, Alison A. Diehl shares information about the center’s renowned training and technical assistance programs for home energy professionals and commercial building operators. “Working in weatherization can open the door to many opportunities in the growing energy efficiency industry,” she wrote. “For individuals with a passion to improve the quality of life in their communities and looking for a career with growth potential, earning credentials through NSSC’s training programs is a great pathway to consider.”

General Information Penn College at Wellsboro Workforce Development

Penn College to offer EMT course at four regional locations

An Emergency Medical Technician course, beginning the week of Jan. 13, will be offered at four area locations by Workforce Development at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

The course meets National Emergency Medical Services Educational Standards and Instructional Guidelines and is intended to prepare students for National Registry cognitive and psychomotor examinations at the EMT level.

The course comprises 50 hours of lecture and 100 hours of practical learning. Students will select one of four sites: Penn College’s main campus, Bloomsburg Volunteer Ambulance Association’s training and administration center, Penn College at Wellsboro or Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg.

General Information Workforce Development

Fall course designed for entry-level phlebotomists

A Clinical Phlebotomy course will be offered this fall in the Klump Academic Center on Pennsylvania College of Technology’s main campus.

The program – Mondays and Tuesdays from Nov. 11 to Dec. 17 – will provide instruction in how to collect blood samples using venipuncture and capillary puncture procedures. The first eight classes (Nov. 11-12, Nov. 18-19, Nov. 25-26 and Dec. 2-3) are from 6 to 9 p.m.; the final four (Dec. 9-10 and 16-17) will be from 6 to 10 p.m.

President STEM Workforce Development

President delivers keynote remarks at statewide conference

"We must continue to seek new ways to encourage more youth – and more career-changers – to enter STEM fields of study," President Davie Jane Gilmour concludes. "Our economic future depends on it." — “We must continue to seek new ways to encourage more youth – and more career-changers – to enter STEM fields of study,” President Davie Jane Gilmour concludes. “Our economic future depends on it.”

Penn College’s president was among the keynote speakers as the two-day Pennsylvania Home Performance Conference & Trade Show kicked off Monday at The Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center in State College.

Davie Jane Gilmour talked about how the college’s time-tested strategy of hands-on education mitigates the skills gap and promotes lifelong careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Alumni Corporate Relations Events Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies PIRC Plastics & Polymer President STEM Workforce Development

Dedication held for Shell-funded plastics facility at Penn College

Pennsylvania College of Technology President Davie Jane Gilmour (right) presents a timeline of the college’s plastics program – capped with Shell Polymers’ funding of the Shell Polymers Rotational Molding Center of Excellence – to Hilary Mercer, vice president, Pennsylvania Chemicals, for Shell. The center was dedicated in ceremonies taking place Sept. 24.

The Shell Polymers Rotational Molding Center of Excellence was unveiled Sept. 24, and Shell was honored for its generous support for facilities that aid in the instruction of aspiring plastics professionals at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

In a dedication ceremony attended by representatives of the college and Shell and a host of industry partners and stakeholders, participants celebrated the enhanced and upgraded academic and research lab, located in the Advanced Technology & Health Sciences Center at Penn College.

The Shell Polymers Rotational Molding Center of Excellence will boost the college’s efforts to produce highly skilled graduates for the plastics industry while helping to ease the skills gap in plastics manufacturing. It also enables the college – which operates the Plastics Innovation & Resource Center – to assist plastics companies with research and development and the training of incumbent workers.

Faculty & Staff General Information Workforce Development

Penn College course to help prepare students for SATs

Workforce Development at Pennsylvania College of Technology is offering a course to help high school students prepare for the standardized test used as an admissions tool by many institutions of higher learning.

The course will help students better prepare for success on the exam through live instruction, self-paced learning and individual interaction with a professional instructor. The focus will be on math, English and reading, with an optional writing session available for those who wish to practice their skills and review with a Penn College faculty member.

Automated Manufacturing & Machining Collision Repair & Restoration Corporate Relations Faculty & Staff General Information Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies Plastics & Polymer Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies Welding Workforce Development

College among regional assets touted for industrial visitors

Biddle leads visitors through the Thermoforming Center of Excellence.

Site selectors for business and industry, who arrived in Williamsport late last week for a four-day assessment of the region’s educational, health care and recreational attributes, visited Penn College on Monday. Led by a contingent of campus leaders, the guests toured plastics, automated manufacturing, welding, collision repair and automotive restoration labs, and enjoyed lunch at Le Jeune Chef Restaurant. Eyewitness News’ Morgan Parrish was among those accompanying the group, and – in a piece that led the evening’s 5:30 newscasts on WBRE/WYOU – interviewed Michael Quint, managing director at Newmark Knight Frank; Jared Grissinger, project manager for the Governor’s Action Team; and Jason Fink, president/CEO of the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce, for their perspective. Also included in the broadcast was footage of Elizabeth A. Biddle, director of corporate relations; David R. Cotner, dean of industrial, computing and engineering technologies; Shannon M. Munro, vice president for workforce development; and Spencer L. Cotner, of Muncy, a plastics and polymer engineering technology major and research assistant at the college’s Plastics Innovation & Resource Center. The visit, which began at the Little League Baseball World Series over the weekend, concludes with Tuesday stops at UPMC Susquehanna and Lycoming College.

General Information Workforce Development

QuickBooks accounting software classes offered at Penn College

Learn to run your business better with QuickBooks accounting software classes, two levels of which will be offered this fall at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

General Information Penn College at Wellsboro Workforce Development

Nursing information session to be held July 25 in Wellsboro

WELLSBORO – Excellent career opportunities for licensed practical nurses exist in area hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, personal care facilities and human service organizations.

Penn College at Wellsboro’s Practical Nursing Program will host an information session for those interested in nursing as a career. The session will be at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 25, in the nursing lab at Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Wellsboro campus, 22 Walnut St.

Faculty & Staff Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies PIRC Plastics & Polymer Workforce Development

College offers injection molding processing workshops

Plastics professionals from seven states and Puerto Rico participated in a recent Injection Molding Processing Workshop offered by the Plastics Innovation & Resource Center at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Two weeks of the Injection Molding Processing Workshop offered by Pennsylvania College of Technology and its acclaimed Plastics Innovation & Resource Center attracted a variety of industry professionals to campus.

Twenty-eight individuals representing seven states and Puerto Rico attended the workshops that were delivered in separate five-day sessions. The sessions consisted of two sections: Decoupled Molding Setup and Operation and the Science of Injection Molding With Troubleshooting.

Timothy E. Weston, associate professor of plastics and polymer technology, taught the sessions with assistance from Spencer L. Cotner, of Muncy, a plastics and polymer engineering technology major and a PIRC research assistant.

General Information Workforce Development

Penn College, NJIT get nearly $8 million for apprenticeships

Pennsylvania College of Technology and New Jersey Institute of Technology have been awarded a $7,996,530 federal grant to develop industry-driven strategies for apprenticeships in advanced manufacturing fields.

Penn College, a leader in innovative apprenticeship programs and a special mission affiliate of Penn State, and NJIT, New Jersey’s public polytechnic university, received the funding as part of the U.S. Department of Labor’s awarding of $183.8 million in grants to 23 academic institutions and consortia nationwide. The goal is to further expand apprenticeships and address the skills gap. The educational institutions are partnering with companies that provide a funding match. The ultimate aim is to satisfy industry’s enormous demand for trained American workers.

Faculty & Staff Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies PIRC Plastics & Polymer Workforce Development

Extrusion workshop attracts plastics pros

Brennan B. Wodrig, PIRC program manager, (third from left) works with workshop participants on generating coextruded sheets during the recent Extrusion Seminar & Hands-On Workshop at Penn College.

The expertise offered by Pennsylvania College of Technology and its acclaimed Plastics Innovation & Resource Center attracted an array of plastics professionals to campus for the recent Extrusion Seminar and Hands-On Workshop.

Individuals representing 22 companies from 10 states, Canada and Italy attended the 21st annual event that featured extrusion experts Chris Rauwendaal, president of Rauwendaal Extrusion Engineering Inc., and Kirk M. Cantor, professor of plastics and polymer technology.

Faculty & Staff Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies PIRC Plastics & Polymer Workforce Development

Season of well-regarded plastics workshops continues

Patrick White, of Thermo Fisher Scientific in Millersburg, performs a hands-on exercise during a Plastics Materials, Processing and Testing workshop at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Nearly two dozen registrants from eight companies in Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania attended the recent Plastics Materials, Processing and Testing workshop hosted by Pennsylvania College of Technology’s world-renowned Plastics Innovation & Resource Center.

The May 20-22 workshop, one of many that attract industry professionals to campus each summer, provided participants with a fundamental knowledge of polymers and how they are processed, tested and characterized.

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