In the Community

Service:

The faculty and students of the Plastics Engineering Department at UMass Lowell are active in the community and provide service to groups in need of technical assistance whenever possible.  For example, when members of the U.S. Paralympic sled hockey team needed assistance with the plastic components on their sleds prior to the Nagano and Salt Lake winter Paralympic Games, the Plastics Engineering Department was happy to offer assistance.  Custom made plastic seats and glides were designed and fabricated right here at UML.  The U.S. sled hockey team won the Gold Medal at the 2002 winter games.

Educational Outreach:

The faculty of the Plastics Engineering Department are please to visit with student or community groups who are interested in learning more about the science of plastics.  The Plastics Engineering Department is also pleased to open its laboratory facilities for those interested in seeing how plastic products are designed, manufactured, and tested.

If you have a class of students or a community group that has an interest in visiting the Plastics Engineering Department, please contact either the department’s Executive Officer stephen_orroth@uml.edu or the Plastics Engineering Department Chairperson robert_malloy@uml.edu to arrange a visit.

NSF Service Learning Initiative:  

As part of the Francis College of Engineering, Plastics Engineering students are also involved in “SLICE,” the National Science Foundation supported “Service-Learning Integrated throughout a College of Engineering” program.  Service-learning is a hands-on learning approach in which students achieve academic objectives in a credit-bearing course by meeting real community needs.  In engineering, the students become better professionals and better citizens while the community benefits.  The goal at UML is for all engineering students engaged in a service-learning project in at least one core course every semester.  Optional continuing service-based projects are also available.  These service-learning activities are described in greater detail at slice.uml.edu, and are coordinated by Linda Barrington, coordinator of service-learning for the College of Engineering.  She can be reached at Linda_Barrington@uml.edu.