Geiss Thermoforming USA Entrusts College With CNC Machine

The exclusive North American distributor of a German manufacturer of thermoforming machinery for the plastics industry has entrusted Pennsylvania College of Technology with a valuable piece of equipment for students to use in the college's new Thermoforming Center of Excellence.

Geiss Thermoforming USA, an independently owned and operated distributor for Geiss AG of Sesslach, Germany, has loaned to Penn College a CNC trimming machine. Valued in excess of $200,000, the machine will be used to trim plastic parts produced in the Thermoforming Center of Excellence, a state-of-the-art research and training facility in the Breuder Advanced Technology and Health Sciences Center at Penn College. The Thermoforming Center of Excellence will hold its grand opening in April.

The CNC trimming machine will be used by students in the college's plastics and polymer engineering technology bachelor-degree major and plastics and polymer technology associate-degree major. The machine will also be used by the college's Plastics Manufacturing Center, one of the top plastics technology centers in the nation, for research, development and education related to injection molding, extrusion, blow molding, rotational molding and thermoforming.

The equipment-loan agreement between Geiss and Penn College grew out of contacts by PMC staff with the company's representatives at The International Plastics Showcase in Chicago in June.

"We are proud to recognize Geiss as one of our key strategic partners in the formation of the now-international Thermoforming Center of Excellence," said Hank White, director of the PMC.

"Geiss AG is a leader in thermoforming machinery technology throughout Europe and the rest of the world."

A grand opening of Penn College's newly renovated Plastics Wing, including the Thermoforming Center of Excellence, is scheduled for April 10 in the Advanced Technology and Health Sciences Center. The PMC also will offer a national thermoforming workshop April 8-9.

Penn College is one of only five colleges in the nation offering degree programs in plastics and polymer engineering technology and plastics and polymer technology accredited by the Technology Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. Graduates of those majors are in high demand for positions in manufacturing operations, process technology, supervision, research and development, product and machine design, and more.

Penn College is a special mission affiliate of The Pennsylvania State University, committed to applied technology education. With more than 6,500 students enrolled in bachelor-degree, associate-degree and certificate majors, Penn College has the second-largest enrollment in the Penn State system.

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