Technology Day Held on Campus for Home-School Students

Technology Day was held March 22 for 27 home-school students from the northcentral region of Pennsylvania. Students ranged from grade 6-12. They were placed in three groups according to their grade level. Parents were welcome to stay with their student or visit the campus with a Student Ambassador.Each group visited with three areas in the School of Industrial and Engineering Technologies: Plastics and Polymer Technology, Drafting and CAD Technology and Electronics and Computer Engineering Technology. During the Plastic and Polymer workshop with Department Head Tim Weston, assistant professor of plastics technology, students visited several labs and were able to work with the vacuum thermo former. They designed and created their own thermo-form sheet to take home. Some of their comments included: "The best part of this activity was the limitless creativity." Another student liked learning about the different properties of plastics.Students who sat in on Jeffrey D. Mather's computer animation workshop were able to learn how to animate 3-D images. Students who attended this workshop enjoyed using the advanced technology and software. Mather is an assistant professor of drafting and computer-aided design.The final workshop the students attended was fiber optics and robotics. This workshop was hosted by electronics faculty Jeff L. Rankinen, associate professor, and Bruce M. Smith, instructor. Here each group learned how to control the tabletop robots and were able to make a fiber-optic flashlight (which was their's to keep). One student commented in the program evaluation that they are now more interested in the field of electronics.There was a resounding response to lengthen the sessions and even add some new sessions for next time. Students could also take part in a tour of the remaining laboratories in the School of Industrial and Engineering Technologies.