Gavin Baer '25

Penn College was recommended to me by an extended family member as well as a family friend. Throughout high school, I enjoyed working with my hands and after taking a metal working class that involved a little bit of machining, I knew I wanted to learn more. During my junior year, I stopped in at a spring open house and was fascinated by the machine shops and after a conversation with an instructor about the classes and what types of jobs were available with a manufacturing engineering degree, I knew it would be a good fit.

This is a tough question, because I really enjoyed all the classes in the machine shops. However, I would have to say the abrasive machining and heat-treating class was my favorite. I found it very interesting and satisfying to take inexpensive material and heat-treat it to certain specifications and grind it to very tight tolerances and smooth surface finishes to create useful parts. The lab work throughout this course could be kind of tedious at times, but I enjoy precision work because it is very rewarding. 

My favorite professor was Howard Troup. He taught the electrical discharge machining (EDM) and fixture design and fabrication courses. He was always willing to help and very enthusiastic. I appreciated how he gave students freedom to pursue projects that interested them while at the same time making sure we were learning new skills. 

Through a couple of internships, I have seen a variety of manufacturing styles, and I was inspired by the different jobs that I can do with this degree. It is a common misconception that working in the manufacturing industry is very repetitive and I have learned that is not the case. With the right skill set and willingness to learn, I believe there is no end to the possibilities, and it is just a matter of finding what part I enjoy the most. 

In my last semester a project I had to do in Rapid Prototyping (3D printing) was to design and make a working single cylinder air engine using the four types of 3D printers in the lab. The idea was to have the engine operate on as low a pressure as possible. I started out by doing some research of different designs and then creating a design of my own. I enjoy doing modeling work on the computer, so I created several assemblies to test ideas. I finally decided on a design that instead of relying on the momentum of the flywheel to return the piston, I would just switch the air pressure to the other side to push it back. To do this I needed to create a valve system that was timed correctly with the piston which was challenging. One thing I learned was the value of 3D printers. It is a great way to quickly test and refine ideas. Things can look perfect on the computer but there is no way to actually know it works until you have a physical part. My design ended up working very well but there was room for improvement. Time management is very important in this project and after seeing my completed part I would have liked to change some things, but I ran out of time. 

The new lab was amazing. It gave me a chance to experiment with multiple 3D printing technologies which I believe is important because having the ability to run the printer is much more valuable than just learning about the technology. Seeing the capabilities firsthand also helped me improve my design skills. In the air engine project, the number of machines made it so we didn’t have to wait on classmate’s projects as much which gave us the ability to test more ideas.

After graduation, I will be starting as a Manufacturing Engineer at Bearon Manufacturing in Landisville, PA. I will start by spending some time learning how to run the machines and then move into trying to improve processes as well as develop new ones. I completed an internship for this company last summer and I really enjoyed the work I did as well as the people I worked with. I am looking forward to picking up where I left off as well as learning how to program and operate machines to improve the overall efficiency of the shop.

Golf has always been something I enjoy, and I had the privilege of playing on the team for three years. It was a great experience as I made some very good friends. My favorite part was always getting to play new courses and meeting players from other schools. We had a very successful team, and we got to play in the NCAA Division III national championship two times. It was awesome to travel across the country and play some really fun courses. I appreciated the relaxed nature of the team while still working hard to compete. It was a great way to balance schoolwork and playing a sport that I am very passionate about.

I would give a big thank you! A lot of what I have done would not be possible if it wasn’t for the generosity of these people. Everyone from the people who have donated to improve the labs at the college to the instructors made my education experience amazing and I learned so much. This education has set me up to be successful in the professional world. Many people I have worked with during internships have taught me a lot about what I need to be successful in industry and I am looking forward to being part of it.