Sigma Plastic Services donates software to Penn State Erie

SCHAUMBURG — Sigma Plastic Services has donated Sigmasoft polymer process simulation software to Penn State Erie’s School of Engineering at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, a gift valued at $3.7 million.

The software will give the college new technical capabilities for its soon-to-open Medical Plastics Center of Excellence and current medical plastics certificate program, two initiatives that address the emerging medical plastics market. The U.S. market for medical plastics is growing at a rate of 5 percent to 10 percent annually and sales are projected to reach $6.55 billion in 2012.

“Thanks to Sigma Plastic Services, our students and faculty members will be able to develop the next generation of medical devices. This is a great partnership between academia and industry that ultimately benefits our students,” said Ralph Ford, director of the School of Engineering.

The $3.7 million gift supports Penn State Behrend’s goal of raising $32 million during the University’s current capital campaign, For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students. To date, the college has secured 81 percent of that goal.

Penn State Behrend’s Medical Plastics Center of Excellence is an applied research and outreach center that supports companies in the development of new medical devices and packaging, technologies that could not exist without advanced plastics materials. SIGMASOFT® software, designed for the molding of advanced elastomer, silicone and thermoplastic materials, supports these technologies.

Students enrolled in the Plastics Engineering Technology bachelor’s degree program can pursue the Medical Plastics certificate. The 14-credit certificate program prepares graduates for careers in medical product development with courses in advanced materials, new product design, manufacturing, and FDA regulatory issues. Nationwide, this is the only medical plastics certificate or degree program offered at the undergraduate level.

“We are happy to provide the School of Engineering at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, with 25 seats of Sigmasoft, thereby giving students access to state-of-the-art polymer system simulation,” said Christof Heisser, president of SIGMA Plastic Services. “Simulation has revolutionized the manufacturing world in the last 25 years and has become an integral part of the manufacturing process. It is, therefore, essential to integrate this technology into the education of the next generation of engineers and we at Sigma are proud that one of the leading universities in the manufacturing world has decided to work with our simulation tool.”