More than 60 students and faculty from North Penn High School, Williamsport Area High School and Columbia-Montour Area Vocational-Technical School visited Penn College during a recent STEM Day program. The Nov. 8 "Changing the World With STEM" observance included alumni speaker Derek F. Knipe, a 2005 manufacturing engineering technology graduate employed at PMF Industries on Reach Road. Organizers had help from faculty and students from the School of Construction & Design Technologies and the School of Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies. Among those sharing their experiences with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) were Rylee A. Butler, an engineering design technology major from Bellefonte; Connor L. Winslow, of Blanchard, enrolled in information technology sciences-gaming and simulation; heating, ventilation and air conditioning design technology students Thomas E. "Ted" Daros Jr., of North Salem, New York, and Barry P. "Pat" Watkins, of Blossburg, and Bradley Q. Kishbaugh, instructor of HVAC technology; Jordan M. Scott, of Cogan Station, and Kachine L. Fry, of Butler, both majoring in residential construction technology and management: building construction technology concentration; and Jacob Giraffa, a mechatronics engineering technology student. The high school students were able to see firsthand the technology with which Penn College students regularly work in their classes; robotics, mechatronics and 3-D printing demonstrations were provided. Manufacturing engineering technology major Logan B. Goodhart from the Baja SAE Club showed off the Baja car and what the club is working on, while visitors to the Engineering Design Technology Workshop drove robots into mock combat.
– Photos by J.J. Boettcher, student photographer;
Carol A. Lugg, assistant dean of construction and design technologies; and Kimberly R. Cassel, director of alumni relations
Instructor Craig A. Miller (left) previews the exciting world of engineering design technology ...
... including 3-D-printed components for the combative robots taken into competition by the The Student Wildcats of Robotic Design.
Manufacturing is alive and well at Penn College, which regularly provides graduates for the 21st-century workforce.
Thomas E. "Ted" Daros Jr. leads a tour of the HVAC lab, which replicates the layout of a two-story dwelling.
Alumnus Derek F. Knipe, a manufacturing engineer at PMF Industries in Williamsport, gets a Wildcat welcome back to campus.
Commemorative shirts put the "tee" in STEM.
In the HVAC lab, heat – as does the student photographer – rises to the upper level.
