Shawnee State University’s plastics engineering program is ranked No. 5 nationally and No. 1 in the state of Ohio by College Factual. In this program, students are trained in plastics manufacturing, chemistry, physics, advanced mathematics and engineering. The program has a focus on communication skills, hands-on processing operations and significant components in plastics engineering. Plastics is a rapidly growing industry all around the world, and Shawnee provides the training and skills that students will need no matter where they go.
Anna Lovins is a Shawnee State University alum who is putting the skills she learned to work in Augusta, Kentucky, an Ohio River town between Portsmouth and Cincinnati. Lovins graduated in the spring of 2025 with a bachelor of science in plastics engineering. Lovins originally began as a musical theater major and completed three years of college credit plus classes through her high school. While in Portsmouth, she worked at Deadbolt Escape Rooms & Mysteries. Lovins is now employed at an extrusion and nonwovens facility under Magnera, a company that manufactures specialty materials such as protective apparel, filtration paper and construction material. Specifically, Lovins works in a facility that produces nonwoven fabrics with melted polymers.
Lovins was inspired to pursue plastics engineering through her passion for creating.
“I have always enjoyed making things. Whether that was armor, designing 3D models for prints, escape room props, crochet, really anything that I could physically see the result of and be proud of,” she said. “Plastics are so integrated into society today, they’re in literally everything in some way, so it seemed like the right fit, and the plastics program definitely furthered my interest in plastics specifically.”
Not only did Shawnee’s plastics program solidify Lovins’ interest in plastics engineering; Shawnee also helped Lovins grow her skills and connect with possible employers.
“Shawnee has a nationally ranked plastics engineering program and has graduates in nearly every company in the surrounding area,” she said. “You think of a manufacturing company, there’s probably Shawnee plastics graduates there. This company had hired Shawnee graduates before and knew that good students came from Shawnee.”
Lovins also explained that her opportunity at Magnera was one of three opportunities that were available to her, all of which came from companies that had contacted plastics engineering professors or from Shawnee’s career fairs.
“The plastics program at Shawnee excels at making sure their students are marketable and have the practical skills to secure a job, which in turn boosts the reputation of the program even further,” she said. “I don’t think I could’ve found a better program for my interests.”
Lovins reminisced about the support system she found through school faculty. She was grateful that she had people that wanted to see her succeed, and that those people helped her learn a lot and opened a lot of opportunities for her.
“If you’re interested in plastics,” Lovins said, “come to the Shawnee Plastics Day to see a demonstration of all of our lab facilities and hear from current and former students about their experiences.”
