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| PHOTO CAPTION: During the 2009 Department of
Defense Corrosion Conference in Washington, D.C., from left, Dr.
Luis Proenza, president, and Sue Louscher, project director for
corrosion and reliability engineering, both of The University of
Akron, celebrated the university’s new undergraduate program
in corrosion engineering with U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, D-Ohio, who
was the conference keynote speaker, and Tim Avampato, PPG market
manager, government research and development contracts. The PPG
Industries Foundation has donated $5,000 to support development of
the new university program – the nation’s first focused
on corrosion studies – for which Avampato and other PPG
Industries researchers are serving as industry
advisors. |
"We are very pleased to receive support from PPG to help us
establish this unique engineering program, with an emphasis on
preparing students to effectively address the $276 billion annual
cost of corrosion to the U.S. economy," said Dr. George K. Haritos,
dean of the UA College of Engineering. "The funding will be used to
support outreach efforts to build student interest in this newly
approved curriculum."
The U.S. Department of Defense has provided most of the funding
to UA for this new program of study. Dr. Haritos said the major
will consist of an engineering core with concentrations on a strong
corrosion science foundation, effective corrosion engineering
principles and corrosion management components.
Scientists from PPG's coatings research facilities near
Pittsburgh will act as adjunct professors for some courses in the
new corrosion engineering program. Locally, the company operates a
chemicals manufacturing facility in Barberton.
"PPG is strongly committed to supporting the communities where
its employees work and live," said Chuck Kahle, chief technology
officer and vice president, coatings research and development, for
PPG Industries. "We are proud to support The University of Akron in
its efforts to establish an academic curriculum that's focused on
an area of importance to PPG and our customers. We are excited to
play a part in guiding curriculum development, to have PPG
researchers teach corrosion engineering courses, and to support the
students and graduates of the program in their professional
development."
Established in 1951, the PPG Industries Foundation demonstrates
the values of PPG Industries by enhancing the quality of life in
communities where the company has a presence. Interests of the
foundation, in order of priority, are education, human services,
culture and arts, and civic and community affairs. PPG also
supports charitable causes by encouraging employee volunteerism and
executives' involvement with nonprofit organizations.
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