Testimonials from PLE Students
- "The program provides a wide range of courses that are covered which will help the student in many situations during their career after graduation."
- "We currently have two phenomenal professors who specialize in very different things: material/chemicals and processing/injection molding. Having these two minds to learn from is a huge boon to the program. The injection molding process is definitely a focus of the program, and we are well set up with the machines and professors to learn about it. We learn about so much from material chemistry to testing to drying to different processing. That's just the plastic curriculum too. We still receive so many basic engineering staples like heat transfer, fluid mechanics, lean, quality, etc. It's a well set up program."
- "Extremely knowledgeable professors - Excellent lab activities and access - Covers a large spectrum of relevant topics."
- "It's a very hands-on program while also covering a lot of theory."
- "The student organization for this program, the Society of plastics engineers (SPE) does a great job helping students in this program to learn skills they will need to succeed early on/ ahead of when they will learn them in class. In addition, the program itself tries to advertise this organization, so that more students can take advantage and do better overall.
- "The main strength of this program that I have noticed is job placement. In my two + years here I have not even heard of anyone not getting an internship or full-time job after graduation. The teachers in the program are all very knowledgeable and prepared to take the time to explain concepts that are hard to understand."
- "The faculty is excellent in the Plastics Engineering program who truly want you to succeed. I'm glad I’ve had courses with all of them because they are all great mentors. The availability of laboratory equipment and facilities are a strength to the program. The program has a high employment percentage after graduation. The class sizes are relatively small. The professors are usually easy to contact with questions."
- "The lab, professors, and hands-on learning. The amount of time out in the lab is very good. Same with class sizes. Each core professor also brought their own area of expertise to the table."
Testimonials from Core PLE courses
- “Thank you for teaching me about plastics, this is the knowledge that will be very helpful in my summer internship at Sil-Pro."
"Does a good job experiencing you in hands-on activity's in the lab to connect to what is being discussed in class."
PLE-360 (Plastics Testing and Analysis) - “I could utilize these skills to prototype my own equipment, build custom fixtures, design injection molds, and assist others in design for manufacturing.”
“Having this be a custom design provides a much better understanding than most lab situations.”
“I had an idea as to how much engineering and skill goes into tool design and manufacturing, but never truly understood.”
PLE-310 (Injection Molding Theory, Design and Application) - “The instructor is very intelligent and insightful who really likes to challenge the students but wants them to succeed at the same time.”
PLE-410 (Capstone II: Process/Product Development)
Testimonials from B.S. Plastics Engineering Advisory Board
- "A more interactive approach to learning about the plastics industry. Strong industry connections. Dedicated faculty who are truly focused on quality graduates to meet industry needs and student learning."
- "Excellent laboratory. the faculty and their commitment to students. This combined with the strong influence of industry partners and the advisory committee make this a unique program, preparing students for real-world experience."
- "The major strength is the program is closely tied to industry and with the ties to industry via the advisory committee, the program continues to provide students to the industry that are prepared when they graduate."
- "Exceptional labs. Students have a good balance of theoretical and hands-on strengths. Students have hands-on experience as well as industry experience when they graduate. I have been very impressed with the abilities of the students when they review their capstone projects at each advisory committee meeting."
- "The hands-on learning in the labs, especially related to injection molding. The students are able to operate state-of-the-art injection molding machines. Stout has always preached about being a hands-on teaching college and this program is a perfect example of how this can work to the benefit of students and prepare them for engineering jobs in plastics processing. Also, the faculty in the program have a very good understanding of plastics processing and testing and are passionate about sharing their knowledge with the students."
- "Exposing students to multiple technologies for plastics and teaching students how to process plastics for the multiple technologies, then process improvement for each of the technologies to get the desired results. Level of exposure of students to some employers."
- "Good hands-on work with plastics equipment and materials. The program is recognized as a center of excellence for plastics."
- "I think one of the biggest strengths of this program is that it is more specialized in the area of plastics than other mechanical/manufacturing engineering programs. This specialization factor allows the students to learn more in-depth knowledge on the subject they plan to work on after graduation which makes them more valuable to the prospective companies they go out to work for."
- "Provides a good forum for leaders to provide input to the needs of industry and allows the university a vehicle to receive input to assist in structuring the program/curriculum. Aids in strengthening the internship program."
- "The program concentrates on the needs of the plastics industry. The students that come out of this program are knowledgeable in plastics processing operations and the tools available for the engineers in the industry."
- "Very active plastics manufacturing personnel on the board, many decision makers. The members are willing to donate time, talent, and resources (materials, tools, equipment) as available and needed. Instructors with industrial processing experience."