Penn College group welcomed to manufacturer's open house

Eighteen automated manufacturing students and four Penn College employees traveled to Elmira, New York, last week for an open house at Hardinge Inc., a leading international provider of advanced metal-cutting equipment.

"Until recently, Hardinge CNC (computerized numerical control) machines have been made in Taiwan," said Howard W. Troup, assistant professor and co-department head of automated manufacturing/mechatronics. "Hardinge has decided to bring the manufacturing of its machine tools back to the U.S."

Helping to lead that effort is application engineer Nathan A. White, one of the many Penn College alumni hired by Hardinge over the years. White holds associate degrees in automated manufacturing technology and machine tool technology, as well as a bachelor's in manufacturing engineering technology (all in 2020).

Joining Troup and the students at the Hardinge event – which included vendors, machine demos and facility tours – were Chris S. Macdonald, corporate relations officer; Bryan C. Schaefer, maintenance mechanic/millwright specialist; and John G. Upcraft, instructor of machine tool technology/automated manufacturing.