A Word from Penn State Behrend on EducationA Word from Penn State Behrend on Education

Here is a letter we received in response to my article on plastics engineering programs:

I am a big fan of the Design News magazine.  I have been in the
engineering field for 10 years and have received a lot of subscriptions
to magazines in my career, but your magazine is the only one that I do
not immediately throw in the circular file.  The articles are reported
fairly with little slant towards the advertisers products.  My entire
office area enjoys the Calamity column greatly and typically discuss the
problems and failures in the office.

This month’s issue in regards to the Crisis in Engineering education was
particularly intriguing to me.  Being a "recent" graduate (1997) of the
Penn State University Behrend College Plastics Engineering Technology
program, I was particularly interested in the article on the education
in the plastics field of engineering.  The UMass Lowell and the Penn
State Behrend plastics programs have always been the top two in the
country.

Not to take anything from UMass Lowell or disrepect Mr. Malloy, he is
wrong or splitting hairs about UMass Lowell being the only ABET
accredited four year plastics engineering program in the US.  The Penn
State Behrend four year Plastics Engineering Technology of which I have
a bachelors degree has been ABET acredited since 1993.

The Penn State Behrend program is very hands on.  Upon graduation not
only was I able to buy a mold or run a machine aquistion project, I was
also able to startup and troubleshoot a machine related issue.  In my
opinion, this is the future of engineering education.  To be able to
design a plastic part, a building, or a bridge is one thing, but the
design would be pretty much useless if you do not know how the plastic
is processed, how the concrete is poured or how the steel girders are
joined.

Thank you for producing such a great periodical.

Tim McNulty

P.S. What ever happened to Slack Variable?

Penn State Behrend is no doubt one of the top plstics engineering programs, but did not respond to a request for an interview. –Doug Smock