News Release

College’s engineering training has a global reach

July 31, 2008

Engineering education at Penn State Harrisburg transcends national boundaries to meet the needs of adult students.

This summer, as they have for 15 years, the college’s Continuing Education unit and its School of Science, Engineering, and Technology hosted a two-week Resident Engineering Laboratory for students enrolled in a non-affiliated correspondence college associate degree program. Students major in civil, electrical, or mechanical engineering technology and are required to complete a hands-on laboratory component prior to receiving their degrees. Penn State Harrisburg is the only provider of the required hands-on engineering laboratory education.

Senior Continuing Education Project Associate Brenda L. Firestone, the program’s organizer and lab administrator, says the program annually attracts about 20 students from throughout the nation and the world. “This summer, students came to the college from Malta, The Philippines, Canada, Jordan, Morocco, and Kenya and from North Carolina, California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Alabama,” she notes.

Under the supervision of Penn State Harrisburg engineering faculty, “The engineering students conduct lab experiments in their field of study with faculty lectures supporting the learning. The resident lab is the culmination of these students’ persistence and determination in completing their academic studies,” Firestone adds.