Penn College

College’s welding expansion includes new robotic equipment

CLOOS Robotic Welding has entrusted a QRC 320 upright robot with V9 controller to Pennsylvania College of Technology. With the equipment in the college’s welding lab are, from left, Ryan P. Good, assistant professor of welding; Aaron E. Biddle, instructor of welding; Elizabeth A. Biddle, director of corporate relations;  and James N. Colton, assistant professor of welding. Credit: Penn College / Penn State. Creative Commons

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Pennsylvania College of Technology’s expanded welding instructional facility is home to new equipment from CLOOS Robotic Welding Inc.

The company – known for its pre-engineered and custom-engineered robots and welding equipment – is entrusting one of its QRC 320 upright robots with V9 controller to the college. The unit is an enhanced version of the robotic welder CLOOS provided to the college in 2014.

“Students are the big winners from our partnership with CLOOS,” said David R. Cotner, dean of Penn College’s School of Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies. “The new unit has a seventh axis, so we will be able to do coordinated motion programming, which will be a great project-based learning experience for our students.”

An estimated 100 students per year will work on the equipment during their Level I robotics class. A Level II robotics course is being developed, which will require additional student interaction with the new robotic cell.

The college’s 35,000 square-foot welding expansion – made possible in part by a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration – will enable enrollment of up to 60 more students annually. There are currently about 350 welding students.

“The future needs Penn College welding graduates,” said Elizabeth A. Biddle, director of corporate relations at Penn College. “We have nearly a 100% placement rate for our welding graduates. We are grateful for the support of CLOOS Robotic Welding in providing equipment that will continue to help make our students real-world ready.”

“As an OEM manufacturer of world-class robot welding technology, we are glad to be part of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s robotics program. CLOOS Robotic Welding is honored to have our single and tandem wire arc welding robot cells on display, while transferring our product knowhow to a growing number of students year after year,” said Hartmut Boegel, president of the company.

CLOOS Robotic Welding – based in Schaumburg, Illinois – is a subsidiary of Carl Cloos Schweisstechnik GmbH, in Haiger, Germany. Founded in 1919, Carl Cloos Schweisstechnik GmbH is a leading welding technology company.

Penn College offers a bachelor’s degree in welding and fabrication engineering technology, associate degrees in welding technology and metal fabrication technology, and a certificate in welding.

For information about those majors and other programs offered by the college’s School of Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies, call 570-327-4520 or visit www.pct.edu/icet.

For information on Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education, visit www.pct.edu, email admissions@pct.edu or call toll-free 800-367-9222.

Last Updated August 22, 2019