Building Construction Articles

Pennsylvania College of Technology held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for two projects funded, in part, by a $2 million U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration grant: construction of an 1,800-square-foot Clean Energy House and renovations at the Carl Building Technologies Center on main campus.

Representatives from Metzger McGuire, a leader in interior industrial concrete repair products, provided live concrete repair demonstrations to students in the Concrete Construction class. The company’s Pat Smith and Dan Kraff gave students hands-on practice using Metzger McGuire’s products to repair surface damage and damaged joints – and donated materials to the concrete science program.

Representatives of Keystone Precision Solutions spent a recent day on campus to share their expertise in emerging technologies in the architecture, surveying, construction and engineering industries. Although the team’s unmanned aerial vehicles were “grounded” due to rain, several classes visited the Bardo Gym to experience equipment, including a robotic total station, laser scanner and unmanned aircraft systems.

"Imagine a world without concrete," levels alumnus Joe DiBucci, building construction technology instructor at Penn College. (Impossible!) This energized episode of the "Tomorrow Makers" podcast brings loads of laughs and lots of insight about the world's most widely used building material — concrete. Have a listen to "Concrete Science."

"Concrete Science and Careers,” offered to K-12 FFA instructors by faculty experts from Pennsylvania College of Technology, is already yielding positive impacts – including plans for a more in-depth session for the teachers later this spring. Faculty offered instructor workshops on three Saturdays during the Pennsylvania FFA’s “Agricultural Cooperation Establishes Success” Leadership Conference near Harrisburg.

Students in the Decorative Concrete class, taught by Joe F. DiBucci, recently visited Lycoming Vault & Precast in Montoursville. The company produces a variety of precast concrete products, from septic tanks to light pole bases. “Traveling to a precast concrete plant was a great opportunity for the students to be able to see a different side of the industry,” said DiBucci.

Pennsylvania College of Technology students who are set to compete at the International Builders Show this month were hosted recently by the West Branch Susquehanna Builders Association, which presented the students with a check for $3,500 to offset the cost of their competition and travel expenses. The students are members of the Penn College Construction Association. Each year, the association sends students to the show, where they compete in the National Association of Home Builders Student Competition.

Eight students in Pennsylvania College of Technology's concrete science technology and residential construction technology & management majors expanded their horizons recently with a visit to World of Concrete, an international event dedicated to the concrete and masonry construction industries. The convention, held annually in Las Vegas, attracted 60,000 attendees to its 700,000 square feet of exhibit space and was featured on CBS "Sunday Morning" on Feb. 11.

A Hanover-based general contractor has donated a new concrete mixer to Pennsylvania College of Technology, equipment that enhances the educational experience for students attending classes in the Construction Masonry Building at the northwestern edge of main campus. The donation by Conewago Enterprises Inc. is a welcome gift to students and faculty in the college’s innovative two-year concrete science technology major.

Third-year architecture students created and, on Thursday, presented their final projects: physical mockups developed from the best-drawn wall sections created using SketchUp design software. "A great experience it was," said Rob A. Wozniak, associate professor of architecture, whose 18 students in his Detailing & Applications class (BSD 340) were divided into three teams.