Ferris State University Plastics Engineering Technology faculty will host an injection
molding skills institute beginning Tuesday, May 30.
A three-day session in Ferris State University’s National Elastomer Center will provide regional industry employees access to state-of-the-art campus facilities during an injection molding skills institute beginning Tuesday, May 30.
Tom Van Pernis, an alumnus of Ferris’ Plastics Engineering Technology and an assistant professor of Plastics and Rubber Engineering Technology, said he and Professor Steven Wolfer will instruct the workshop course offered through Career and Professional Development.
“We are working to meet industry needs. There are significant shortages of trained technicians capable of troubleshooting injection molding technology,” Van Pernis said. “To be able to start production after a mold change or manage other such skills often becomes the job of line workers, who previously had to keep machinery loaded with raw materials. We will help build their knowledge of the equipment and its operation.”
Van Pernis said Plastics Engineering Technology students who complete their Bachelor of Science degree often become process engineers who develop the production routines taken up on the manufacturing floor. The nine molding machines in Ferris’ Plastics Lab that assist their skill development will operate during the institute.
“We expect companies will send one to three employees to this session. Some will be commuting to Big Rapids each day of the institute,” Van Pernis said. “It is satisfying to be a regional resource for the corporations involved. This is a very good use of our molding machines which are otherwise idle in the summer semester.”
Registration is available online to those businesses interested in having staff trained in the injection skills molding institute, set for Tuesday, May 30, through Thursday, June 1.