ORLANDO, FLA. (April 5, 6 p.m. ET) — Under the watchful eye of plastics engineering technology instructor Dan Ralph, 10 students from Brooklyn Park, Minn.-based Hennepin Technical College (HTC) visited NPE2012.
The students’ visit was funded by a $16,000 donation from Aspen Research, a contract research and development company that has a long association with HTC.
The college and company are cooperating on work related to biopolymers, according to Ralph, a veteran of NPE, having brought students to the event for the last 26 years.
“This is a great opportunity for HTC students to experience the top level of science and technology in materials, design, processes and automation in the plastics industry,” he said.
Ralph says HTC’s plastics diploma is the best-equipped two-year course in the United States, “if not the world”, with a range of equipment including a twin-screw extruder donated by medical devices company Boston Scientific.
HTC has a record of placing all students who finish the plastics technology program with employers, mainly in the extrusion and injection molding sectors.
“Thanks to support from Aspen Research students will see the most innovative ideas in the industry,” Ralph said.
