6-7-04
BEHREND STUDENT WINS BEST STUDENT,
PROFESSIONAL PAPER AT ANTEC
Erie, PA - For the first time ever, a Penn State Behrend student has won Best Paper in both student and professional categories for the Injection Molding Division at ANTEC, the Annual Technical Conference of the Society of Plastics Engineers.
Peter Knepper of Murrysville won the dual award for "The Effects of Runner Diameter on Packing of a Plastic Part with Injection Molding." Knepper, a plastics engineering technology graduate who will enter a graduate plastics engineering program at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, next fall, also works for Beaumont Runner Technologies, a local plastics start-up.
"The judges liked the fact that his paper offered practical, well-grounded material that people in the industry can use," said John Beaumont, professor of engineering, who also attended ANTEC. "They saw broad application for his work." After initial screening by the board of directors of the injection molding division, the top five papers go to a group of editors of plastics magazines, who select the final winner.
Thirteen students and four faculty traveled from Penn State Behrend to this year's event, which was held May 16-20 in Chicago. The students presented nine papers and several won awards in addition to Knepper:
Shawn Andres of Franklin, Bryan Haring of Pittsford, New York, and James Szymanowski of Erie won Best Student presentation in the Blow Molding Division for "Investigation of a New Coating on Extrusion Blow Molding Tooling."
Adam Pesek of Mercer won Honorable Mention in the Thermoplastic Materials and Foams Division with "Synthesis of Blocky Copolymers via Ring-opening Polymerization Using L, L-Lactide and MBC."
Scott Cleveland of Bradford and Joseph Latchaw of Franklin won Honorable Mention in the Mold Making division with "Runner Diameter and Length Effects on Molded-in Stresses of Injection-Molded Parts."
Faculty accompanying the plastics engineering technology students included John Beaumont, Brad Johnson, Paul Koch, and Jon Meckley.
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, offers 31 four-year degrees, five two-year degrees, and two graduate degrees at its 725-acre campus. More than 1,500 of the college's 3,700 students live on campus.
Contact:
Loretta Brandon
814-898-6063 (O)
E-mail: lzb6@psu.edu