FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17,2000
“Building a bridge among facu
Dr. John Beaumont kicks off 2000-2001 Provost's Speaker Series with outreach lecture
by Liz Hayes
news editor
On Monday, November 13, Dr. John
Beaumont presented the first of the
three lectures in this year’s 2000-2001
Provost’s Lecture Series. The
recipient of the newly created Council
of Fellows Outreach Award,
Beaumont spoke on the topic of
“Building a Bridge Among Faculty,
Students, and Industry” to the crowd
gathered in the Reed Lecture Hall.
After Provost and Dean Dr. John
Lilley introduced Beaumont, he began
his Power-Point enhanced lecture.
Beaumont, associate professor of
engineering at Behrend, began by
defining outreach as the reaching
beyond the boundaries of the
university to regional industry for
educational support. He also cited
outreach as the key reason for the
success of Behrend’s Plastics
Engineering Technology Program.
Beaumont went on to describe how
several hundred area companies were
very interested and involved in the
development of this program, which
began with four students in 1989. He
indicated that several local companies
actually approached area colleges with
the idea for such a program, and it was
Penn State Behrend, with the firm
backing of Dr. Lilley, who latched
onto the idea. In the end, it was
decided that Behrend would provide
the facilities and faculty for the
program, while regional industry
would secure the funds and much of
the equipment.
The goal of the PLET program is to
provide a “world class education" for
plastics engineering students,
Why do-we
Thanksgiving?
“For the good food.”
Ben Yunion,
Engineering, 01
“It’s a time to get together
with family and friends.”
Jodie Payne,
Psychology, 03
“It’s time with my family.”
Andrew Snyder,
Mechanical Engineering, 01
according to Beaumont. He described
how the curriculum of the program
forces students to go “above and
beyond,” by being involved in projects
directly with local industry. This gives
students the opportunity to “interact
and act as real engineers.”
Students also get extensive training
in research, including the
communication and presentation
aspects of it. Every year, Beaumont
and the PLET department take
students to the annual ANTEC
conference. At this conference,
students get the opportunity to present
their research findings to a large
audience. Beaumont said that
Behrend’s students usually come away
from ANTEC with 70% of the best
paper awards that are presented there.
This year, approximately 60 PLET
students will be making the trip to
Dallas, Texas, for the ANTEC
conference, which occurs in May.
Another project that Beaumont has
helped to initiate is the Plastics CAE
Center. It came to the attention of the
program that many local companies
were having difficulties adjusting to
CAE (computer aided engineering).
Therefore, the PLET program
implemented this center to help train
businesses in the operation and
benefits of this technology. Again,
students get a great opportunity to
participate.
One other area that Beaumont has
helped to develop is in the area of
international study. Every year the
PLET program tries to take a group
of students to an engineering fair in
foreign countries. Some of the recent
countries the program has visited
include China, Germany, England,
“To remember our past, and to give
thanks and to reflect on all of the good
things that we have.”
Ryan Sullivan,
Enginering, 01
France, and Australia.
Beaumont remarked
that this is a great
experience for
students, especially
since many have never
been on an airplane
before, let alone in a
foreign country. It
helps prepare students
for what may lie ahead
in the real world of
employment.
“In ten short years,
we are one of the most
recognized plastics
programs in the
nation,” Beaumont
stated. And he
attributes this largely
to the great outreach
efforts the school has
made to involve
regional industry in the
program.
Beaumont has been
with the PLET
program since its
creation. He is an
active member in the
Society of Plastics
Engineers and has
received numerous
national SPE awards.
In 1999, he received
the Division Chair
Award for the Injection
Molding Division of
SPE. He also will soon be marketing
his newly patented Melt Flipper
Technology through is own company,
Beaumont Runner Technologies.
The Faculty Outreach Award, which
Beaumont is the recipient of this year,
celebrate
“It’s a time to get together
with my family, eat good
food, and watch football.”
Sherry Stevenson,
Business, 03
NEWS
Dr. Beaumont kicked off the 2000-2001 Provost’s Speaker Series with his presentation on outreach and the Behrend
Plastics Engineering Technology Program. He spoke at noon on Monday, November 13.
was established by the Council of
Fellows to honor the accomplishments
of a faculty member in the area of
service to the community or his or her
profession. The two other awards the
Council presents each year are the
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staff, and students”
Faculty Research Award and the
Excellence in Teaching Award. The
three recipients of these awards are
then invited to address the college as
part of the Provost’s Speaker Series.
The other awardees this year are Dr.
Tailgate Pak
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PHOTO BY NEIL MAKADIA
John Champagne, associate professor
of English and recipient of the
Teaching Award, and Dr. Syed Saad
Andaleeb, associate professor of
marketing and recipient of the
Research Award.
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