Engineering Students Shine at Two International Conferences
Students enrolled in two engineering programs at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, recently presented and earned top awards at two international conferences, upholding the college’s reputation for academic excellence in the field.
Nineteen students enrolled in the plastics engineering technology (PLET) program at Penn State Behrend presented 14 research projects at ANTEC 2007, the Society of Plastics Engineers’ Annual Technical Conference held in Cincinnati, Ohio. The students nearly swept the undergraduate student research awards—earning five of the six divisional awards and five of five runner up/honorable mention awards.
Additionally Christopher Suprock, who graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering this spring, earned first place for his research presentation at NAMRC 35, the North American Manufacturing Research Conference, held in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Plastics Engineering Technology Program
ANTEC is the largest international technical conference for the plastics industry in the world and is attended by professionals in both industry and academia, most of whom give the majority of the conference’s research presentations. However, ANTEC accepts a limited number of undergraduate research submissions annually for publication and presentations.
“Penn State Behrend’s PLET program has been well represented at ANTEC since 1989, but it is unprecedented that a single program has had such a dominating presence,” said John Beaumont, professor of engineering and PLET department chair. “The conference awards clearly point to our degree program as the leading undergraduate research curriculum for plastics.”
Seven PLET students earned Best Research Paper awards in five categories, as follows.
-- Product Design Division: Matthew Loeffler and Travis Belz
-- Mold Making Division: Alex Beaumont
-- Injection Molding Division: Sean Byrne and John Kremm III
-- Engineering Properties and Structures Division: Richard Haibach Jr.
-- Material Additives and Foams Division: Kory Slye
Belz, Byrne, Kremm and Loeffler each graduated this spring. Beaumont, Haibach and Slye are seniors.
Additionally two of the six categories cited honorable mention awards, with Penn State Behrend students earning all five. The following nine PLET students earned honorable mentions
-- Mold Making Division: Eric Baluh and Mikael Wagner, Jeremy Haibach, plus Michael Vandeveer, Clint Badowski and Matthew Loeffler
-- Injection Molding Division: Alex Beaumont as well as Kevin Welsh and Jason Willis
Badowski, Baluh, Vandeveer, Wagner, Welsh, and Willis also graduated this spring. Haibach is a senior.
Professional committees review student research papers multiple times before accepting them for publication. The best papers are then further reviewed by six different divisions for final acceptance and to determine the Best Research winners.
Mechanical Engineering Program
NAMRC is the premier international forum for academic and industrial applications in manufacturing and is attended by global academic and industrial leaders in manufacturing. NAMRC hosts the Student Research Presentation Contest to recognize students’ contributions to the organization.
Suprock co-authored the research with Penn State Behrend faculty members John Roth, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Larry Downey, assistant professor of mathematics. Suprock earned first place for his presentation of the research paper “Realtime Failure Forecasting for Flat, Ball-nose, Roughing, and Tapered Endmills using an Accelerometer,” which was judged by a panel of professionals from the North American Manufacturing Research Institution and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. He was the only undergraduate student to present at the conference, which is focused primarily on master’s and doctorate-level research. Suprock will begin a Ph.D. program at the University of New Hampshire this fall.
The School of Engineering at Penn State Behrend offers three associate and seven baccalaureate degree programs, as well as one minor. Each program is accredited by either the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) or the Technology Accreditation Commission (TAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). Students have access to 11 student chapters of honorary and professional organizations, such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). The School of Engineering and the Sam and Irene Black School of Business are co-located in the college’s $30 million, 160,000-square-foot Research and Economic Development Center, making Penn State Behrend one of the first institutions of higher education in the country to house its engineering and business schools together in the same facility. For more information, visit www.behrend.psu.edu.