Erin Keaney will be earning her Ph.D. in Plastics Engineering at UMass Lowell this May, specializing in medical device manufacturing. Azadeh Farahanchi is also pursuing a Ph.D., but her specialty is ultra-high speed compounding and its effect on materials. Mitchell Corneau, a senior about to graduate with a B.S. in Plastics Engineering, loves learning about the latest technology and is already planning on continuing his education at UMass Lowell this fall.
One thing they all have in common: they are extremely excited about the all-new Wittmann Battenfeld EcoPower injection molding machine workcell that was provided by the company and officially dedicated at the opening of UMass Lowell’s renovated Plastics Engineering Lab on March 23.
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Erin Keaney (left) and Azadeh Farahanchi (right). |
These students were among the over 50 UMass Lowell students and faculty who attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony held to formally open the newly updated lab. The lab had a significant face-lift with UMass Lowell providing new flooring, overhead lighting and other upgrades; Wittmann Battenfeld supplied the new workcell, which consists of an EcoPower all-electric molding machine, a W818 robot with telescopic vertical arm, an indexing conveyor, and a Tempro Plus D temperature control unit, as well as new artwork for the lab’s walls.
Each of these three students spoke with Wittmann Battenfeld at this event about their choice of plastics as a career path, and the importance of the new machinery joining their lab.
Mitchell Corneau of Providence, RI has already decided to pursue a Master’s degree at UMass Lowell after he graduates with a B.S. in Plastics Engineering this May. He first got interested in plastics by working with his uncle, Mickey Blyskal, owner of Plastixs in Charlton, Mass., who encouraged him to look into the plastics engineering program at UMass Lowell.
‘It’s the only school in the country that offers post-graduate degrees in plastics engineering,’ he said. ‘They run an extremely challenging program here but we know what we learn every day applies directly to the real world. I don’t know of a better place to gain an education that will better prepare me to enter the workforce after graduation.’
Mitchell, who recently returned from a 3-month internship at GE Appliance Park in Louisville, KY, has already learned to operate the new Wittmann Battenfeld machine. ‘We have numerous courses in injection molding processing where students learn how to run the machines, and control them properly to produce quality parts,’ he said. ‘I love working with the best technology and this machine, robot and system are state-of-the-art.’
Over 50% of the Plastics Engineering graduate students at UMass Lowell come from other countries, according to the university. Azadeh Farahanchi is one of them; she earned her undergraduate degree in Plastics in Teheran, Iran, but she wanted to further her education in plastics, and there are no post graduate programs in her country. So she came to the USA in 2012 to attend UMass Lowell, where she earned her MS in 2013 and continues to work towards her Ph.D.
While she is studying ultra high-speed compounding and material degradation, she is also a teaching assistant and works with undergraduates to instruct them on operating injection molding machinery. She also uses molding machines to run tests on the materials she’s compounded, to learn about shear rate, changing shot sizes to prevent gate freeze, etc.
‘We’re grateful to all the companies who have supplied machinery and equipment to the university, as it’s much needed for our research and development,’ she said. ‘This new all-electric Wittmann Battenfeld machine is amazing, and it’s great to have the robot, conveyor and complete workcell.’
Erin Keaney’s story is a compelling one; just two months away from earning her Ph.D., she has already co-founded a company in Lowell called Nonspec, which manufactures low-cost prosthetics for use in developing countries. The prosthetics are ‘hyper-adjustable’ – expandable and contractable – so they can be used on both children and adults. Erin and her partner already have a patent on the product and have been to India twice to fit patients and conduct tests. The results have been excellent, and the company expects to start marketing the new prosthetics soon.
‘I knew about UMass Lowell’s Plastics Engineering program because my father went here,’ she said. ‘I liked what I saw here – it’s a unique program, the only accredited one in plastics in the country, and UMass Lowell has strong alumni that give back to their communities and their universities.’
Erin learned how to operate the new Wittmann Battenfeld workcell and teaches undergraduates best molding practices on it now. ‘There’s nothing like hands-on learning, and this new machine is fantastic,’ she said. ‘What Wittmann Battenfeld and David Preusse, a UMass Lowell alumni, have done is pay it forward. We here at UMass Lowell will all benefit from their generosity, and I hope to be in the same position some day to give back and make a difference.’
This is Wittmann Battenfeld Inc's latest contribution to plastics engineering/higher education and one of it's most significant given that several of the company’s employees including company President David Preusse studied there, and UMass Lowell is well-known as one of the premier plastics engineering schools in the USA. Based 130 miles from Wittmann Battenfeld’s USA headquarters in Torrington CT, the university has graduated over 3,000 students with degrees in plastics engineering since it started the program in 1954. UMass Lowell graduates can be found in management positions at virtually every major plastics industry supplier or manufacturer worldwide.
Workforce Development - Helping Train Today’s Engineers for Tomorrow’s Challenges
The new workcell employs Wittmann 4.0, the company’s version of Industry 4.0 that provides complete connectivity and communication between all systems. This technology is essential for the next generation of plastics industry workers, as it will provide an even more dynamic way to continue US plastics industry growth and the re-shoring of plastics manufacturing.
David Kazmer, a professor at UMass Lowell who teaches process control, automation and machine integration, will be using the new Wittmann Battenfeld workcell to teach students how to take injection molding to the next level, such as web integration, controlling data storage, and using Industry 4.0. ‘We feel we have a special program here at UMass Lowell, preparing students for good jobs in the plastics manufacturing industry,” he said. ‘Having this new Wittmann Battenfeld machinery will help us prepare our students to be familiar with state-of-the-art injection molding best practices as they enter the workforce.’
‘I hope UMass Lowell graduates can be the leaders for innovation as they hit the industry,’ said Dave Preusse, ‘and I suspect they will remember it was Wittmann Battenfeld machinery from which they learned great new things upon.’
