Penn College News

Industry outreach brings concrete grad back to campus

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

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Madison L. Kistler points to some of concrete's myriad applications during a talk in the Davie Jane Gilmour Center presentation room.

A 2022 graduate of Penn College's two-year concrete science technology major returned to campus Tuesday with four other representatives of this year's PACA Emerging Leaders Academy cohort, meeting with current students about the vast variety of available careers.

Madison L. Kistler, a quality control technician at New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co. Inc., is among 19 members of the Pennsylvania Aggregates and Concrete Association's 2023 PELA class.

She and her colleagues collaborated on a wide-ranging presentation, "From Permit to Pavement," that outlined the estimated 100 jobs involved in just 1 cubic yard of concrete – from obtaining regulatory approvals before quarrying can even begin, to the machinery (and human support network) that comprises a stone-crushing enterprise, to the winning of a construction contract, to the ultimate mixing and pouring of the world's most-used building material.

Joining Kistler in fulfilling PELA's mission of public connection were Bailey Mills, Mellott Co.; James Seidle, The EADS Group; Adrian Snyder, also employed by New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co. Inc.; and Benjamin Welch, Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc.

Students were accompanied by faculty members Joseph F. DiBucci, building construction technology: concrete and masonry; and Harry W. Hintz Jr. and Franklin H. Reber Jr., building construction technology.

A former Wildcat soccer player, Kistler also earned an associate degree in surveying technology (2021) and a bachelor's in applied technology studies (2022). She is showcased in a Wildcat Spotlight video and as part of the college's Meet the Makers feature.

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The group – including (at left) Snyder, Mills and Welch – answers questions during Kistler's portion of the program. (Not pictured is Seidle, who was taking photos at the back of the room.)