Penn College News

Rotational molding workshop attracts appreciative professionals

Friday, May 24, 2019

Plastics professionals representing 17 companies, 12 states and Canada gave rave reviews for the recent Rotational Molding & Advanced Materials Workshop hosted by Pennsylvania College of Technology and its acclaimed Plastics Innovation & Resource Center.

“I feel like I am at Disneyland. I loved it that much,” said David Sharp of Acrylon Plastics in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

“A great course. The presenters took complex subject matter and broke it down to an elementary level that was practical and easy to understand,” said Mark Eberhardt of The Metal Ware Corp. in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.



A Rotational Molding and Advanced Materials Workshop hosted by Penn College and its Plastics Innovation & Resource Center featured participation by 17 companies from 12 states and Canada. Brennan B. Wodrig, PIRC program manager (at the controls) demonstrates equipment in the Shell Polymers Rotational Molding Center of Excellence.“In my time that I have spent in rotomolding, I have been learning the way things work. But until this seminar, I did not know the why. The detailed breakdown in this class was very insightful,” added Ethan Hennes, of Forte Product Solutions in Farmington, Missouri.

The two-day workshop combined classroom training with practical experience on higher-level technology in rotational molding, including a new STP Rotomachinery Inc. LRM 1500 Laboratory In-Line Gas Shuttle in the college’s Shell Polymers Rotational Molding Center of Excellence.

Sessions covered the latest developments in advanced materials for rotational molding and provided core content connecting material preparation to molding parameters and final part quality.

R. Dru Laws, senior vice president of Seljan Co. in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, and president of the Association of Rotational Molders, served as workshop presenter.

Penn College facilitators included Brennan B. Wodrig, PIRC program manager; Christopher J. Gagliano, PIRC project manager; Gary E. McQuay, part-time instructor of plastics and polymer technology; and student research assistants Spencer L. Cotner, of Muncy, and Brandon B. Zechman, of Granville Summit, both of whom are plastics and polymer engineering technology majors.

Jerry Ramsey, president and owner of Akro-Plastics in Kent, Ohio, provided lab instruction.

The PIRC is one of the top plastics technology centers in the nation for research, development and education related to injection molding, extrusion, blow molding, rotational molding and thermoforming. To learn more, call 570-321-5533.

Penn College is one of six institutions nationwide offering plastics degrees that are accredited by the Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission of ABET. In addition to the bachelor’s degree in plastics and polymer engineering technology, students may seek an associate degree in plastics and polymer technology.

Information about those majors and other programs offered by the college’s School of Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies is available by calling 570-327-4520.

For more on Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education and workforce development, email the Admissions Office or call toll-free 800-367-9222.