Pellissippi State offers new plastics concentration to meet employer needs

Knoxville and the surrounding area are home to 37 plastics manufacturers, and now Pellissippi State has created a new academic concentration to supply qualified employees to the industry.

Plastics Engineering Technology is the newest of four concentrations available through the College’s Mechanical Engineering Technology two-year degree program.

“Pellissippi State has the only Plastics Engineering Technology concentration in Tennessee,” said Pat Riddle, MET program coordinator, “and the College is in the unique position of training students to work for local companies such as Sanford, Vinylex, DeRoyal and P&S Plastics.”

The new concentration gained approval by the Tennessee Board of Regents, Pellissippi State’s governing body, this summer, and the concentration opened to students in August.

According to Riddle, only 33 colleges and eight universities in the U.S. were offering plastics engineering technology as of 2005.

“Plastics is one of the fastest growing industries in the world,” he said. “Plastic is being substituted everywhere it can be substituted for metals, because of the depletion of natural resources.” Medical equipment and food packaging manufacturing companies, he says, are especially dependent on plastics.

Mechanical Engineering Technology is a two-year associate’s degree program. Students in the Plastics concentration spend the first year in general education and core MET courses such as Materials and Manufacturing Processes, Shop Practices, Engineering Technology Applications and Communications. The second year, students take more advanced classes, including Plastics Processing With Lab, Part and Tool Design, and Part and Tool Manufacture.

Having earned an associate’s degree, MET students are qualified to fill such positions as engineering assistant, production supervisor, process control technician, setup operator and entry-level tool-and-die maker.

“Our ability to respond to area employers’ need for a trained workforce is central to our mission as a community college,” said Teri Brahams, executive director of Business and Community Services. “Thanks to a generous donation of equipment from one of those industries, Eldon/Sanford Brands, we are now able to offer this new concentration.”

The plastics injection molder, which was delivered from the Sanford plant in Madison, Wisconsin, last year, is valued at $60,000 and will be at the center of the training program.

For more information on MET or the new concentration, contact Pat Riddle, priddle@pstcc.edu or 694-6514.