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New degree program reaches out to Erie company By Loretta Brandon
Students in Penn State Erie’s new manufacturing systems engineering master’s degree program assisted Synergy Applications Inc. in marketing its high-pressure coolant system as part of their course work. Seated, from left, are Dr. Jeff Trailer, assistant professor of management at Penn State Erie, and members of Synergy Applications: Jeffrey Demenik, Donny Malinowski and Harry Warren; and standing, from left, are Jeff Enterline of Synergy Applications and the winning student team members: Marty Dropik, Dave Rose, Michele Terando, Kyle Smith and Brian Young.	Twenty-five students in the new master’s in manufacturing systems engineering degree program at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, divided into five teams to assist Synergy Applications Inc. in marketing the company’s new high-pressure coolant system. In addition to receiving good grades, the three teams with the best marketing plans received awards from the company for their efforts.   “This was a tremendous experience for us,” said Synergy Applications co-owner Jeff Demenik. “The students gave us more than what we expected, and Dr. Jeff Trailer was great to work with. We had a difficult time picking a winner.”   Dr. Jeff Trailer, assistant professor of management at Penn State Erie, added, “This was a great opportunity for the students in my Business Enterprise class. The group spent one class period at the company’s manufacturing site, viewing the product and asking questions about it. They spent a second class discussing key selling points, advertising design, ways to add value for the customer and ways to communicate that added value.”   Following their discussion, the student teams created PowerPoint presentations highlighting their best marketing ideas. Each team placed their presentation on a compact disk, which Synergy Applications will share with potential customers. The owners and sales engineers from Synergy Applications were invited to the final class to hear the presentations and determine the best of the group.   Awards were presented to the top three projects, but Synergy Applications will be using the work of all five teams, Demenik said. Portions of the five presentations were combined into one CD, which the company used at the Erie Industrial Expo.