Bedford County company wins the day
For the Second time, a Bedford County company has been the source of the most successfully executed project by Penn State's Learning Factory.
The Learning Factory is a partnership between industry and Penn State's College of Engineering. The program brings together teams of student engineers to tackle real-world problems for a wide range of companies from Pennsylvania and throughout the northeast.
The student teams get to select the project they want to work on. Then, at the end of a specified period, the projects are detailed in the College of Engineering Showcase. At the showcase, projects are awarded in several categories, including one that measures real impact and cost savings to the company involved.
For the seond time in three years, a Bedford County company's project was selected as a winner.
BC Stone, in Everett, had a real problem, according to Plant Manager Jim Tegeler. The company needed to devise an ergonomically sound way of handling very heavy materials during transport and at the job site.
"We learned about the Learning Factory from introductins made by BCDA." said Tegeler. "At BC Stone, the safety of our workers is number one. And we also want to have an efficient system in place to move and handle materials."
Working with Rick Hoover, director of reserach and develoment for the Materials Reseach Institute at Penn State, the team helped the company apply a diverse array of skills. "We were impressed with their ability to work as a team," Tegeler stated.