UW-Stout adds plastics engineering degree

Add the University of Wisconsin's Stout campus to the short list of U.S. colleges and universities that offer a bachelor of science program in plastics engineering. The Menomonie, Wis.-based school announced the news on Friday. The new degree program will start this fall. UW-Stout officials expects to have 100 students in the program after five years. Currently there are no other polymer/plastics engineering programs in Wisconsin. UW-Stout already offers a bachelor of science degree in engineering technology with a concentration in plastics. According to a news release from the university, Wisconsin employers have had to recruit from universities in other states for plastics engineers. "This will serve a very large plastics industry in Wisconsin," UW-Stout Chancellor Charles W. Sorensen said. The release also quotes Jon Spaeth, an engineering manager with Phillips Plastics Corp., said in a letter to the state's Board of Regents that his company “is continually looking for and developing new engineering talent.” “Phillips has and continues to hire UW-Stout graduates for our engineering level positions,” Spaeth wrote. “We have always been pleased with the caliber of the individuals from UW-Stout and believe that the additional degree will place the graduate one step further ahead.” The plastics engineering degree program will use the same core classes as the current manufacturing engineering program, but will require eight additional course, covering material selection and testing; various processes including injection molding, extrusion, thermoforming, blow molding and rotational molding; and the design of tooling and machinery. Congratulations and best of luck to UW-Stout. How do the plastics engineers out there feel about this? Which school do you think has the best program, and how's the outlook for plastics engineering graduates this year?