An episode of Pennsylvania College of Technology's "degrees that work.tv" series received a Silver Award of Distinction in the 2011 Communicator Awards competition, which honors the best creative work in the communications fields.
The award was bestowed in the documentary category for a "degrees that work.tv" episode featuring the plastics industry. This marks the fourth time that an episode of the series a co-production of Penn College and WVIA Public Media has won a major award.
In the plastics episode, the knowledge of national experts is combined with the work of Loyalsock Township High School students engaged in a plastics project to illuminate exciting possibilities in the career field. It includes visits to NPE 2009 in Chicago, the largest gathering of plastics professionals in North America, and to K'NEX Brands, one of the nation's largest injection molders.
Interview subjects included Michael Araten, president and CEO of K'NEX Brands; Kirk M. Cantor, professor of plastics and polymer technology at Penn College; William R. Carteaux, president and CEO of SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association; Robert Grace, editor/associate publisher/conference director, Plastics News; and Timothy E. Weston, associate professor and department head, plastics and polymer technology at Penn College.
The college production crew responsible for the plastics episode is Christopher J. Leigh, video production coordinator, who served as producer/director/editor/camera; Tom Speicher, video production developer, who served as producer/writer/editor/camera/narrator; and Christopher J. Legarski, instructional development specialist (multimedia/Web-based) who provided animation. Production support was provided by student employees Timothy R. Cotter and Leah C. Mather.
Tom Currÿa1, WVIA's executive vice president, and Elaine J. Lambert, director of college information and community relations at Penn College, serve as executive producers for the series.
Airing on public television, "degrees that work.tv" series episodes can also be accessed online and on Penn College's YouTube Channel .
Other "degrees that work.tv" episodes have focused on nanotechnology, welding, advanced manufacturing, and green technologies and sustainability.
The 2011 Communicator Awards received more than 6,000 entries. The competition is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from acclaimed media, communications, advertising, creative and marketing firms.
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