Polymer Engineering Articles

A collaboration between academic departments at Pennsylvania College of Technology is “molding” a unique opportunity for polymer engineering technology students. In the seventh-semester class Building Molds & Dies, students swap three hours a week in their plastics labs for hands-on work in the Larry A. Ward Machining Technologies Center.

A manufacturer of fiber optic and copper network cabling has endowed a scholarship at Pennsylvania College of Technology. Leviton recently presented the college with a $25,000 gift to establish the scholarship. The donation places the company – a Corporate Tomorrow Maker – in the Ambassadors Society ($25,000-$49,999) on the college’s Donor Wall.

Meet five Pennsylvania College of Technology alumni who are making names for themselves with SEKISUI KYDEX, a global thermoplastics leader. Learn how they are applying their polymer engineering expertise to innovate and create sustainable thermoplastic material solutions for the next generation of product design.

A new YouTube video explores how Penn College graduates are answering the demand for tomorrow-minded polymer engineers through their work at B. Braun Medical. Challenged to develop innovative medical solutions, alumni – Daniel M. Dietrich, '09, processing engineering manager; and Joshua A. Berger, '20, injection molding process engineer – are committed to designing sustainable solutions to meet today's health care demands.

After a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sekisui Kydek opened its Bloomsburg operation to more than 100 secondary and vocational school students and their faculty chaperones this fall for Manufacturing Day – an immersive exploration of the vast career opportunities available in polymer engineering at which a five-member Pennsylvania College of Technology team actively participated.

Professor Kirk M. Cantor's origin story, recounted in a three-and-a-half-minute YouTube video, takes viewers on a fascinating career arc that began with troubleshooting NASA weather balloons and – through an aptitude for math, a fondness for teaching and the bravery to leap into a brand-new academic program – produced an internationally recognized authority in polymer engineering.

A leading polymer engineering software provider has renewed its support of Pennsylvania College of Technology and its students. Plastic Flow LLC recently provided its updated software package to the college at a substantial discount, valued at $323,725. The design software allows for three-dimensional simulation of the flow in extrusion dies.

Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, chair of the state Senate Communications & Technology Committee, was among those visiting on Wednesday, impressed by a variety of instructional areas alongside Penn College administrators, state Sen. Gene Yaw and legislative colleagues.

Career Services held its final major-specific Recruitment Day of the semester on Wednesday, as more than a dozen companies filled the Breuder Advanced Technology & Health Services Center atrium to talk with students and alumni about career opportunities in the plastics and polymer field. Penn College's Recruitment Days are narrowly tailored to particular programs, with smaller numbers of vendors – but with no less enthusiasm about discussing internships and full-and part-time jobs.

Plunge into the fascinating world of plastics and polymers on the latest episode of the Tomorrow Makers podcast, featuring Kirk M. Cantor, professor of plastics technology, and Mason A. Beaver, a plastics & polymer engineering technology student from Selinsgrove.