Penn College grad/podcaster advocates for skilled trades

Like many working in the skilled trades, Robert M. Layng loves his vocation. The Pennsylvania College of Technology alumnus shares his infectious passion for manufacturing and machining through stories and a podcast series for a national trade publication.

Layng is a contributing writer and podcast host for Cutting Tool Engineering, a business-to-business monthly magazine covering metalworking and manufacturing. His weekly podcast, “The Daily Grind,” airs live on YouTube Mondays at 8 a.m. before being distributed on major podcast streaming services.

“Just talking and having a water-cooler-type chat is my cup of coffee. I will talk to anybody about anything,” said Layng, who earned an associate degree in toolmaking technology.

Pennsylvania College of Technology graduate Robert M. Layng hosts a weekly podcast, “The Daily Grind, for Cutting Tool Engineering, a business-to-business monthly magazine covering metalworking and manufacturing. Layng, an engineering technician at Lafayette College in Easton, interviews industry experts, leading manufacturers and young talent on his podcast. His Oct. 19 episode will feature Penn College’s Brad M. Webb, dean of engineering technologies.

The 2008 graduate has produced over 30 podcasts since late 2025 from the campus of his employer, Lafayette College. Interviews with industry experts, leading manufacturers and young talent are mixed with Layng’s practical take on products and trends throughout the 30-t0-40-minute episodes.

His Oct. 19 podcast will feature Brad M. Webb, Penn College’s dean of engineering technologies. They will discuss how the college addresses the demand for workers in the skilled trades. According to a Lightcast report, there are three job openings for every person completing a skilled trade program, creating an annual talent gap of 1.3 million workers.

“I’ve been doing my darnedest to show anyone who listens or watches that it (skilled trades) is a very rewarding career path. You can do very well for yourself. You don’t need to go to a four-year Ivy League school to do well,” Layng said. 

He learned that lesson from his father and grandfather, who were both toolmakers. Along with his brothers, Layng worked in his dad’s Canton-area machine shop as a teenager. “He would give us basic tasks just to try it out. If you liked it, great. If not, nobody could fault you for trying,” he explained.

Layng didn’t like it. He loved it. “I was hooked. I love being able to take a piece of something to make something,” he said.

His high school vocational program directed him to Penn College and its toolmaking technology degree. (Today the major is called machine tool technology.)

“It was fantastic,” Layng said, citing hands-on work in labs, faculty with industry experience and small class sizes. “I knew the two-year associate degree would get me into the workforce pretty quickly. And yes, I had a job before I graduated.”

He was hired as a machinist at Osram Sylvania (now known as Global Tungsten & Powders) in Towanda. In 2010, he joined Lafayette, a private liberal arts college in Easton, as an engineering technician.

“When I got my job here (at Lafayette), they had seen that I went to Penn College and that put me to the top of the pack,” he shared.

In his role, Layng services and maintains two machine shops in the Acopian Engineering Center and assists students with manufacturing their designs for various class and degree requirements.

“This is where they learn that sometimes it’s easy to put a design on a piece of paper, but it’s a whole different ballgame to get it made. They learn they can’t just draw something. They have to make sure it’s manufacturable,” he said.

A few years ago, Layng began writing for American Gunsmith, a technical journal featuring firearms repair, maintenance and customization. His stories focused on machining and manufacturing parts related to firearms. When American Gunsmith ceased publication, Layng contacted Cutting Tool Engineering about contributing his expertise to that magazine.

“Ever since I started working at Lafayette, I had been getting the magazine. It’s one of those ones that I can’t put down. I thumb through it nonstop,” Layng said. “I explained that I do more of a technical journal approach, not necessarily journalism. The editor said, ‘Do something on workholding and send it to us. We’ll see if we want to print it.’ And they loved it, so they kept giving me more to do.”

His dozen stories for this year include detailing a method for fitting custom preloading lock nuts to a Formula SAE race car’s wheel-hub design and illustrating the value of three-jaw scroll chucks for precision turning. Often, Layng’s pieces are drawn from his work with students and faculty at Lafayette.

Impressed by his common-sense approach and technician’s perspective, Cutting Tool Engineering asked Layng in late 2025 to front its new podcast – “The Daily Grind.”

“When they reached out saying that I was a fresh face who would resonate with the younger generation of manufacturers, my immediate response was, ‘Are you sure you have the right email?’” Layng laughed.

While initially a “bag of nerves,” Layng has settled into his weekly gig, embracing the opportunity to discuss the field he loves with a wide variety of guests, ranging from Jeffrey Badger, known as the “Grinding Doc,” to recent graduates who have begun their endeavors in the skilled trades.

Cutting Tool Engineering regards the podcast as a success. The publication signed Layng to continue “The Daily Grind” through at least 2027 and sent him to Chicago to promote the podcast at the recent International Manufacturing Technology Show, the largest manufacturing trade show in the Western Hemisphere.  

“It’s turning out to be a very good thing for me,” Layng said.

As his profile grows, Layng, a member of the Alumni Tomorrow Makers Program, isn’t forgetting his Penn College roots. He’s committed to having more Penn College guests on his podcast following Webb’s Oct. 19 appearance. And he’s been adding a subtle Penn College “taste” to each episode. Playing off “The Daily Grind” title, Layng highlights coffee supplied by Fresh Roasted Coffee LLC, a Sunbury business owned by 1996 Penn College grad Andrew Oakes.

“I’d been struggling to find a coffee partner, and I reached out to the alumni office at Penn College to see if they had alumni who got into coffee,” Layng said. When he contacted Fresh Roasted Coffee, the company readily embraced his sales pitch to highlight free samples on the podcast.

“They said, ‘Stop talking. Take our coffee,’” Layng recalled with a laugh.

Fortunately, he did the latter and not the former.

For information about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education, email Admissions or call toll-free 800-367-9222.