Plastics - PCToday - Pennsylvania College of Technology

Center Changing Name, Expanding Industry Outreach

Nov. 29, 2011 - 10:57 a.m.

One of the nation’s top centers for plastics research, development and education related to injection molding, blow molding, extrusion, rotational molding and thermoforming, will change its name, effective in January. In an effort to expand its industry outreach, Penn College’s Plastics Manufacturing Center will become the Plastics Innovation and Resource Center. The PIRC also will incorporate the newly formed Thermoforming Center of Excellence, dedicated to research and development, technical support and education within the thermoforming industry, and the Rotational Molding Center of Excellence, which is the first in North America for research and workforce training.

Hughesville Cub Scouts Visit Penn College Labs

Nov. 4, 2011 - 3:37 p.m.

Hughesville Cub Scout Pack 80 recently visited Penn College, addressing various topics – including conservation, art, the environment, crafts and science – as they continue their strides toward becoming Boy Scouts. "It was an incredible night in both the plastics labs and the construction labs," said Carl J. Shaner, college health services director and a member of the troop's Parent Committee. "Several of the Scouts are already thinking this is where they want to attend college."

Second Annual Thermoforming Workshop Held in ATHS

June 28, 2011 - 3:20 p.m.

Industry representatives visited the plastics facilities at Penn College this week for the Plastics Manufacturing Center’s three-day National Hands-On Thermoforming Workshop. The second annual training event, offering a 50-50 mix of classroom instruction and laboratory activity, is held in the Breuder Advanced Technology and Health Sciences Center – home to the Thermoforming Center of Excellence that opened in April 2010.

Region's Vital Manufacturing Base Celebrated at Daylong Event

June 16, 2011 - 4:06 p.m.

"Made in Central PA," a manufacturers' showcase of the products and career opportunities available in Penn College's nine-county back yard, was held Thursday on main campus. About a dozen people – including teachers and counselors from area high schools, as well as representatives of regional career and technology centers – attended. The group heard presentations and participated in roundtable discussions in Penn's Inn, lunched at Le Jeune Chef Restaurant and toured related academic majors. "Manufacturing in this country is not dead," reassured Donald O. Praster, dean of industrial and engineering technologies. "We have any number of companies who have hired – and continue to be interested in hiring – our graduates." Praster led a visit to welding, machining and automated manufacturing facilities, and assistant dean Bill Mack took the group through the plastics laboratories. Among participating manufacturers were Primus Technologies Corp., Videon Central, Ames True Temper, the Pennsylvania Hardwoods Development Council, Lewis Lumber Products Inc. and First Quality Products Inc. The keynote speaker was Lauren Bryson, statewide director of the Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center Network; closing remarks were delivered by David Whitten from Bingaman & Son Lumber Inc. and the Keystone Wood Products Association. The event was sponsored by the Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corp. and the college.

Industry Representatives Attend PMC's Popular Extrusion Workshop

June 15, 2011 - 4:04 p.m.

Plastics industry representatives traveled to the plastics facilities at Penn College this week for the Plastics Manufacturing Center’s Extrusion Seminar and Hands-On Workshop. The seminar and workshop are led by extrusion consultant Chris Rauwendaal and Penn College instructor Kirk M. Cantor, professor of plastics technology. Hands-on segments were hosted in the college’s plastics laboratories and included use of the college’s extrusion industry equipment.

Grants Support Program for Plastics Manufacturers

May 5, 2011 - 12:21 p.m.

Through grants from the Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corp., Plastics SourceNet – administered through the Plastics Manufacturing Center at Penn College – is administering training and career-awareness activities to benefit central Pennsylvania plastics manufacturers and their employees. Plastics SourceNet received two grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry through CPWDC.

Seminar at Penn College Addresses Industrial Recycling

April 18, 2011 - 3:55 p.m.

Plastic-based products manufacturers gathered at Penn College on March 17 to learn more about plastics recycling and manufacturing in Pennsylvania. The Recycling Seminar was presented by Plastics SourceNet and Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center Inc. to members of the Central Pennsylvania Plastics Industry Partnership, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry through the Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corp.

Scouts Tour College's Plastics Laboratories

April 5, 2011 - 11:34 a.m.

Webelos from Cub Scout Pack 38 at the Church of St. Ann in Williamsport toured the plastics laboratories at Penn College on March 29. Jason R. Paris, a plastics and polymer engineering technology student from Philadelphia – and president of the college’s Society of Plastics Engineers student chapter – guided Scouts on a hands-on tour through the facilities in the Advanced Technology and Health Sciences Center.
Photo by den leader Joseph G. Geffre, manager of mail, document and shipping/receiving services

Outreach Event Links Careers to College's 'degrees that work'

March 29, 2011 - 4:07 p.m.

Several Penn College departments visited the STEM Fair at Park Forest Middle School in State College on March 16. The fair provides an opportunity for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students to engage in activities and presentations that convey that science, technology, engineering and math are viable and real career paths they can take. The fair is part of a sustained effort to increase awareness and availability of those careers. College employees who attended the event included Dave Probst, assistant professor of drafting and computer aided design, Tim Weston, associate professor of plastics technology, Brad Martin, instructor of building construction management, and Barbara Benner, coordinator of nontraditional careers retention for Career Services. The faculty and staff members were able to connect their fields of study to the students in attendance, plus provide opportunities for the students to attend the college’s SMART Girls and NEO Guys events.
Photos provided by Park Forest Middle School

Customers Find Sweet Treats at End of Eatery's Rainbow

March 17, 2011 - 2:05 p.m.

Capitol Eatery customers got a treat for St. Patrick's Day: a colorful dessert buffet filled with rainbow-colored cupcakes and other festive fare. Thanks to Gary E. McQuay, Plastics Manufacturing Center project manager, and John R. Bartolomucci, assistant professor of plastics technology, for making the cupcake display and to Dining Services' Cindy M. Jordan, baker, and Tammy A. Braun, assistant baker, for the wonderful goodies.
Photo by Amy S. Lingg, Dining Services marketing assistant