The Society of Plastics Engineers honored its student chapter at Pennsylvania College of Technology during the society's Annual Technical Conference, held May 6-10 in Cincinnati.
The student organization earned a 2007 Outstanding Student Chapter Award, which the society bestows upon student chapters whose programs, activities and levels of participation are especially noteworthy.
Among the activities that qualified the Penn College SPE Student Chapter for the award were its participation in "The Penn College Plastics Experience," during which high school students visited the college for hands-on workshops in its plastics laboratories; the college's Visitation Day activities in both spring and fall; and SMART (Science and Math Applications in Real-World Technologies) Girls, an initiative that provides a one-day camp for middle school girls and a three-day residential camp for high school girls to help them see the real-world importance of math and science courses.
The group also sent 16 students to volunteer as ushers at SPE's 2006 Annual Technical Conference, and two student members, Adam C. Barilla, of Strong, who is the chapter president; and Zachariah M. Ranck, of South Williamsport, the chapter treasurer, presented a paper at the 2007 conference. Their paper was titled "Optimization of Rotational Molding Cycle Through Thermal Data Acquisition."
Other qualifying activities included producing a student chapter newsletter and attending meetings of the local SPE section (Susquehanna Section).
The Penn College SPE Student Chapter was one of seven in the nation to earn the 2007 Outstanding Student Chapter Award, which was accompanied by a $500 cash award for the chapter's treasury, funded by the SPE Thermoforming Division.
On campus, Penn College SPE was named the Student Organization of the Year in both 2003-04 and 2004-05. The group is a perennial Top 5 finisher in the Student Government Association's "SGA Cup," which awards points to student organizations for participating in college activities and charity events. The group finished first in that competition for 2005-06 and second for 2006-07.
The group's adviser is Timothy E. Weston, assistant professor of plastics technology.
For more information about the academic programs offered by the School of Industrial and Engineering Technologies at Penn College, call (570) 327-4520, send e-mail or visit online .