![Sens. Vogel (center) and Yaw (right) talk with David R. Cotner, dean of industrial, computing and engineering technologies, in the college's welding laboratory.](//www.pct.edu/files/news/images/2015/09/Vogel1-150x150.jpg)
![Brass candlesticks pique the lawmakers' interest during a stop in the automated manufacturing lab.](//www.pct.edu/files/news/images/2015/09/Vogel2-150x150.jpg)
![Vogel gets behind the wheel of a 1929 Duesenberg Model J Victoria, powered by a Lycoming engine and being restored by Penn College students – including Ian M. Bachleda, of Schaefferstown – for the William E. Swigart Jr. Automobile Museum in Huntingdon.](//www.pct.edu/files/news/images/2015/09/Vogel3-150x150.jpg)
State Sen. Elder Vogel Jr., whose 47th District encompasses Lawrence County and parts of Beaver and Butler counties, got acquainted with Penn College during a tour of main campus Wednesday afternoon. A legislator since 2009, Vogel chairs the Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee, and is a member of the Appropriations, Banking & Insurance, Communications & Technology, Environmental Resources & Energy, Local Government, and Majority Policy committees. Accompanied by state Sen. Gene Yaw (chairman of the college's board of directors) and members of the administration, among others, Vogel got a close look at instructional areas for welding, automated manufacturing, collision repair, automotive restoration, and mechatronics. He also visited a natural gas wellhead used by ShaleNET U.S. in the Center for Business & Workforce Development.