Two Pennsylvania College of Technology students recently installed fiber-optic connectors for Moran Industries, a Watsontown-based logistics company.
David Rieck, a network engineer for Moran Industries and a Penn College graduate, contacted the college's electronics and computer engineering technology faculty in search of students capable of installing 48 fiber-optic connectors at the company's new warehouse on Wahoo Drive in Williamsport, near Penn College's Advanced Automotive Technology Center.
Rieck is in the process of installing a local area network, which contains a fiber-optic backbone, and he has relied upon the networking expertise of Penn College students in the past. Coincidentally, a fiber optics class, taught by Jeffrey L. Rankinen, associate professor of electronics, had just finished practicing the installation of fiber-optic connectors.
Rankinen recommended two students: Ryan W. George, of Greenville, an electronics engineering technology major; and Zachary A. Sites, of Mercersburg, who majors in electronics technology-communications/fiber optics.
After George and Sites visited the Moran Industries warehouse to see what was needed, Rieck ordered the required supplies. The students worked as a team to install the 48 fiber-optic connectors. After testing the connectors, Rieck connected the fiber-optic backbone, and the network performed as expected.
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