Workforce Development Articles

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Plastics Innovation & Resource Center offered three national seminars and hands-on workshops in June. The PIRC, formerly the Plastics Manufacturing Center, provided seminars in rotational molding, thermoforming and extrusion, all led by world-class instructors. Christopher J.

Plastics SourceNet, administered through the Plastics Innovation & Resource Center at Pennsylvania College of Technology, received grant funding to provide a series of training courses for central Pennsylvania plastics manufacturers and their employees.

Instructor Dave R. Cotner opens his guests' eyes to employment opportunities and high earning potential for welders. With some of the college's fleet of construction vehicles as a backdrop, Seth J. Welshans, laboratory assistant for diesel equipment technology, walks the group through the riverside heavy equipment training site. Guided by Carol A.

C. Hank White, director of the Plastics Innovation & Resource Center at Pennsylvania College of Technology, recently accepted a 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers Gold Pinnacle Award on behalf of SPE’s Rotational Molding Division. SPE divisions are technical groups organized around a specific process or application in the plastics industry.

Shelby M. Fischer, Penn College student and PIRC research assistant, conducts a Differential Scanning Calorimetry demonstration in the Materials Testing Lab. Christopher J. Gagliano, program manager of the Thermoforming Center of Excellence, demonstrates the process for participants. Roger Kipp, vice president of marketing and engineering for McClarin Plastics Inc.

Adults age 55 and older who want to learn more about using computers for fun and convenience may enroll in a noncredit course to be offered in July on Pennsylvania College of Technology’s main campus in Williamsport. This easy beginners’ class, which is offered through Workforce Development & Continuing Education at Penn College, introduces the computer for enjoyment purposes.

Participants monitor the materials grinding process. Ryan L. Newman, right, a recent plastics and polymer engineering technology graduate and a research assistant for the Plastics Innovation and Resource Center, shows the result of an impact test on a piece of rotationally molded plastic. A participant tracks results of impact testing.

Larry L. Michael, assistant vice president for workforce development and special projects, discussed job-training partnerships with natural gas producers during a panel discussion at last week's U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.

Students enrolled in Pennsylvania College of Technology’s English as a Second Language classes recently celebrated the completion of their service-learning projects. A mix of Penn College students, from English as a Second Language classes and the School of Construction and Design Technologies, stand on the porch of a Habitat for Humanity home.

A participant pulls processed plastic material from the twin-screw extruder Penn College student Samuel R.