Spurred by a local merchant and setting a blistering pace for fundraising, the Student Government Association at Pennsylvania College of Technology met its 2018-19 goal of purchasing a bicycle repair station for the Rose Street Apartments housing complex.
SGA’s Executive Board contacted the proprietors of The Bicycle Center – a 90-year-old, fourth-generation shop in South Williamsport – explaining its objective and seeking expert advice.
Pennsylvania College of Technology celebrated the contributions and commitment of its staff and faculty during an Employee Recognition Week gathering on May 16.
As part of an all-college meeting to end the spring semester, President Davie Jane Gilmour presented Distinguished Staff, Excellence in Academic Advising and Outstanding Assessment awards, as well as recognizing retirees, members of the Quarter Century Club, and employees hitting the 30- and 35-year plateaus during the 2018-19 academic year.
Ending the spring semester with a Thursday morning message to faculty and staff, President Davie Jane Gilmour celebrated superhero-caliber employees who regularly and selflessly fight the good fight on behalf of Pennsylvania College of Technology students’ success. Her address also recapped accomplishments during 2018-19 and anticipated the opportunities to come: “We have had an incredible year. Student and faculty success. Expanding welding, opening in Wellsboro, the turf field,” she said. “Most importantly, we have changed lives – we have contributed to the growth of our community and our students. We have helped each other when necessary and made everyday efforts on behalf of Penn College.”
A graduation ceremony was held Wednesday morning for Rylee A. Butler, a member of the Penn College archery team who is unable to attend commencement exercises due to this weekend’s U.S. National Outdoor Collegiate Championships in Ohio. President Davie Jane Gilmour presented the diploma to Butler, who earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering design technology, during a brief gathering in the Student & Administrative Services Center. The building’s lobby was filled with family and other well-wishers, including faculty from the School of Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies; as well as representatives of the Athletics Department, Academic Affairs, and the Admissions, Registrar and Financial Aid offices. In addition to her degree, Butler is receiving the Academic Vice President and Provost’s Award and the Engineering Design Technology Faculty Award; she also was recently inducted into the college’s new Chi Alpha Sigma honor society for student-athletes. Spring graduation often coincides with postseason play and, in recent years, the president has taken road trips to present diplomas so Wildcats didn’t have to choose between commencement and competition.
Penn College offers a unique manufacturing pre-apprenticeship program for high school students through its Workforce Development department. “We structure the … program around an industry-recognized credential,” Christopher P. Ray, Workforce Development’s executive director for business development, says in a video on the college’s YouTube channel. “Our pre-apprenticeship program is designed to provide foundational topics in manufacturing. The manufacturing pre-apprenticeship can lead to a potential career in almost any manufacturing field.” Students complete the yearlong program through a combination of hands-on work, online study modules and visits to the state-of-the-art labs at the college. Ray is a guiding force behind the college’s second annual Apprenticeship Summit, scheduled from 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday in the Bush Campus Center.
A bipartisan group of state legislators, all present for President Davie Jane Gilmour’s budget request to the Senate Appropriations Committee in February, got a follow-up look at Penn College during a trip to main campus on Tuesday. Touring a number of instructional labs with Sen. Gene Yaw (chairman of the college’s board of directors), administrators, faculty and staff were Sen. Art Haywood (D-Cheltenham), minority chair of the Health and Human Services Committee; Sen. Thomas H. Killion (R-Middletown), who chairs the Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee; Sen. Daniel Laughlin (R-Erie), chair of the Game and Fisheries Committee; and Sen. Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia), minority chairman of the Banking and Insurance Committee. Along for the visit were H. Fred Walker, director of Erie County Technical School; Kendall Alexander, Haywood’s communications director; and three members of Street’s staff: policy assistant Micah Mahjoubian, legislative aide Angel Betancourt and special assistant Kenneth Carter. Some members of the Senate contingent, who collectively represent highly populated areas from Erie in the northwest to Philadelphia in the southeast corner of the commonwealth, also enjoyed lunch in Le Jeune Chef Restaurant.
Take a minute to dive into what it takes to be an aviation technician with this snapshot of the Aviation Basic Electricity II course, a requirement for Penn College’s bachelor’s degree in aviation maintenance technology. Hour by hour, through hands-on activities and engaging classroom discussions, complex theories and ideas solidify into reality. In state-of-the-art labs, students in AVI 135 train with equipment used by the pros. They even build their own pocket-sized oscilloscopes to visualize electrical signals. With all that training – summarized in a video narrated by student Kate M. Ruggiero, of Easton – it’s easy to see why Penn College’s aviation graduates are real-world ready and sought after to fill high-demand positions as skilled aircraft mechanics.
The first graduating class of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s brewing and fermentation science major is fully employed and ready to share its talents with employers and beer lovers.
The six graduates are among more than 800 students participating in Penn College’s commencement exercises May 17-18 at the Community Arts Center in downtown Williamsport.
“I am very proud of the hard work this group has put in over the past two years of rigorous study,” said Timothy L. Yarrington, instructor of brewing fermentation and science. “I am also happy to have them joining the community of educated professional brewers. I look forward to following their successes as their careers take shape.”
A manufacturing engineering technology student at Pennsylvania College of Technology hit the right note with his senior project – literally.
Jaron A. Williams, of Lopez, spent countless hours during the academic year combining his twin passions of manufacturing and music to create a functional bass guitar.
“When he submitted this as a proposal, I said ‘yes,’ but I told him he would have to play it during his presentation,” noted John M. Good, instructor of automated manufacturing and machining. “He did. It sounded great! As he played, he demonstrated various technical aspects and sound-quality controls of his guitar. The audience was amazed.”
Among the recent capstone presentations held across campus, graduating students in Penn College’s brewing and fermentation science degree presented their culminating brews to an audience that included natural sciences and hospitality faculty. Two presentations were conducted, with the soon-to-be-professional brewers offering small assessment samples of their two final brews. “The primary goals of these events were twofold: one benefit to the students was to add feedback and commentary on their capstone beers from a random group of consumers to the feedback they received from the professional panels I assembled earlier in the semester,” said Timothy L. Yarrington, instructor of brewing and fermentation science. “Another was to expose the students to the challenge of engaging consumers about their beers and explaining the history, processes and rationale that inform their characteristic color, flavor and aroma. Brewers rely on professional and consumer feedback to inform their choices. We are also continually in a position to increase the beer IQ of the consumer through educational dialogue.” Six students will graduate May 17 with Associate of Applied Science degrees in brewing and fermentation science.
Through Workforce Development, Penn College offers leading-edge registered apprenticeship programs for mechatronics technician, CNC precision machinist, industrial manufacturing technician and infrastructure maintenance technician. The college organizes and executes the programs for companies of all sizes, while incorporating state-of-the-art instruction – including streaming video between the college and employers at multiple off-campus locations. Under the program, featured on Penn College’s YouTube channel, apprentices can earn industry credentials, increased income, career advancement and credit toward Penn College degrees. “We have to start training our people to be more effective, more efficient, more productive,” says Eric Ramsay, director of the Apprenticeship and Training office in the state Department of Labor and Industry. If we want to make a better prodct, if we want to serve our customers better, we need more skilled, trained people.” Ramsay will be among the speakers at the college’s second annual Apprenticeship Summit, scheduled from 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday in the Bush Campus Center.
Not only will Pennsylvania College of Technology archers be shooting for national titles later this week in Dublin, Ohio, but a trip to the World University Games is also on the line.
Competition in the U.S. National Outdoor Collegiate Championships will be held at Darree Fields Park. Official practice and opening ceremonies will be held Thursday with a 72-arrow qualifying round Friday morning followed by mixed team rounds. Another 72-arrow qualifying round will be held Saturday prior to the official team rounds later that day. Action wraps up on Sunday with the Olympic individual head-to-head knockout rounds.
In addition to national qualifying on Friday and Saturday, those rounds also will be used for World University Games qualifying as the top three in each division will have an opportunity to compete July 3-14 in Naples, Italy.
Students in several hospitality courses showed off final projects to visitors from six high schools, who visited campus April 26 for Hospitality Visit Day. During a session in the Klump Academic Center Auditorium, Amaris T. Smith, of Williamsport, and Nolan S. Lester, of Perkiomenville, presented their senior projects before the high schoolers headed for tours of campus and a visit to the Thompson Professional Development Center for the Grand Pastry Buffet, a capstone project for students completing their degrees in baking and pastry arts. In addition to viewing and tasting the work of baking and pastry arts students, the visitors tasted nonalcoholic mixed drinks prepared by students in the Hospitality Beverage Management Service and Controls class, voting on their favorite. As high schoolers toured the rest of campus, they took in final projects of students in the Cakes and Decorations and Cake Decorating II courses, on display in the Madigan Library.
An inaugural exhibition displaying the architectural design work of 18 seniors in the building science and sustainable design majors at Pennsylvania College of Technology will open soon in The Gallery at Penn College.
A public reception for “Sustainable Design 2019” will be held Thursday, May 16, from 3:30 to 6 p.m., with a gallery talk at 4:30 p.m. The design work will be on display May 16-23 in the gallery on the third floor of the Madigan Library.
Unfilled manufacturing jobs through 2028 may total 2.4 million, threatening the health of the industry and the U.S. economy. With help from the National Science Foundation, Pennsylvania College of Technology is addressing that dire skills gap estimated by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute.
The NSF recently awarded the college a $591,924 grant through its Advanced Technological Education program to increase the number of qualified workers in advanced manufacturing. The money will fund several initiatives during the next three years aimed at students, teachers and school counselors.