Project Term: Fall 2019

Millions of seniors who require personal care struggle with maintaining their independence, creating strain on themselves, caregivers, and nurses. Life Elevated was created to address the issue. In collaboration with students at the ACE Project Space, the firm is building a practical electronic assistive service to automate tasks that can be performed by a computer.

Building an application for an assistive device

The student team assigned to the Life Elevated project developed a database management system and a website to complement an assistive voice-activated device called a Virtual Senior Roommate or avatar that the firm had developed. The students extracted health, quality of life, and general activity information from the avatar and were able to present the data in a manner that nurses could analyze. In addition, the students learned how to a Cura Lulzbot to design and print a 3D case for the avatar to allow for easier transport.

Deliverables

The Life Elevated team completed the following deliverables for the project during the fall term at the ACE Project Space:

• Database system to support the solution
• Website with information collected from the avatar, seniors, and nurses
• 3D designed and printed cases for the avatar.

What our students are saying

“I learned how to work effectively in a team, how to use Python/Django and git, and how to prioritize tasks. I learned team building by actively participating in group discussions and voicing my own opinions on matters at hand.” – Simon Tran

“Having this 4-month experience, it was an opportunity for me to enhance my soft skills, such as organizational, leadership, communication, and some technical skills as well.” – Nelson Munoz

“In my experience in the ACE Project Space, I’ve learned to work in a team, and by that, I mean I learned to accept other people’s opinions. There are a lot of differences in the way people do things. I self-learned new technologies and applied what I already knew to these technologies to further enhance my skills in development.” – Jose Jacap

Technologies used

• Python
• PyCharm
• Django
• PostgreSQL
• Balsamiq Mockups 3
• Drawio
• Cura-lulzbot Software

Senior Information Screen

Quality of Life Screen

Available Conversations Screen

Project Term: Fall 2019

ioAirFlow was created to address climate control issues faced in virtually all commercial buildings with a focus on providing solutions to reduce high energy consumption. The startup approached the ACE Project Space for assistance in creating a solution that combines Internet-connected sensors with an application that analyses climate data measured throughout the target building to identify areas that may require fixing.

Working in scrum teams to build software

Our BIT and BTM students built web application features, including account and issue management, for the ioAirFlow application. In a future term, students will connect the application climate measurement sensors. During the term, the students learned how to work together within scrum teams to elicit and develop application features in an agile fashion.

Deliverables

The ioAirFlow team completed the following deliverables for the project during the fall term at the ACE Project Space:

• Login page
• Account creation
• Graphs feature
• Client page
• About my building page
• Issues page
• Issue filters
• Recommendations feature

What our students are saying

“Django Framework to make a website, Python and its readable syntax, refactoring code and documenting them, Database creation and management with SQLite, creating models and handling them in Django.” – Garret De Chavez

“I learn that how to solve the real-world problems in this project because I take this project as a job. I worked as an employee. I face some programming problems that I never faced before in my life. The biggest one is to do your work as the way your client wants because some time, he gives you the task that you never done before and that time you are learning and working together to fulfill client’s requirements.” – Mipandeep Bhathal

“As a Scrum master I have learned how to lead a team, how to run the Kanban board, doing stand-up meetings, communicating with client and being a team player, improved my presentation and communication skills. I have also learned to create technical document such as Project Charter, Communication plan, Business Requirement Document, Use case, Test case and creating wireframes.” – Ripunjay Borsiwala

Technologies used

• Django
• Python
• SQL lite
• Sensors

About my building screen

Client Page

Survey Page

Project Term: Fall 2019

The traditional tools personal trainers use to keep track of client sessions, dietary habits, workout activities, and goals are often outdated, cumbersome, and time-consuming. Our students developed a mobile application that combines all these features into a single web-based solution.

Soft skills are the key ingredient to project success

In building the health and fitness tracker, the students developed soft skills, including teamwork, communication, conflict resolution, and time management skills. These skills were essential in managing expectations for the project, eliciting requirements, and building an effective solution in a timely manner.

Deliverables

The development team completed the following section deliverables for the project during the fall term at the ACE Project Space:

• Schedule
• Workout programs
• Habits

Technologies used

• React
• Meteor
• Technical reporting
• Kanban board
• Story mapping
• Git
• MongoDB

Login Screen

Coach Appointments Screen

Scheduling Screen

Project Term: Fall 2019

ProCS came to the ACE Project Space with a vision to provide builders with a customized building information modeling (BIM) solution available from anywhere around the world that employees can use to work on and discuss building designs. The BIT and BTM students assigned to the project were able to transform the solution concept into a tangible product suitable for demonstration purposes.

Optimizing performance to build a quality product

The BIM project started last term at the ACE Project Space with a working demo on a local machine. The next stage was to deploy the solution to a cloud provider that client companies and their employees could access online.  The students learned how to test online performance and use their teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills to improve the BIM solution’s overall performance.

Deliverables

The ProCS team completed the following deliverables for the project during the fall term at the ACE Project Space:

• Online BIM viewer
• Administration page
• Bug fixes

What our students are saying

“Working with the team for this project, my duties revolved around the role of a Project Manager. Learning the way how the industry works was quite a new experience for me. I learned being professional and punctual. I learned how to keep up with targets and deadline and prioritizing the tasks according to the requirements of the client. Doing standup meeting, discussing the problems being faced by the team members and sorting them out by involving the client and project sponsor into it were some of the daily done tasks by me. Another important thing that I learned from the experience working here was how communication is the key to solving any problem being faced by any team member.” – Dilraj Marwah

“Working as a front-end developer in the BIM project, I got to learn and experience working with other team members and how the joint efforts of the team members get the project to the end point as the client wants it to be. To work as a front-end developer, I learned working using react and python languages. Also at parts of the project, I had to go and work on the back end to develop some of the functionalities that the client wanted to add to the viewer and learning how to work on code that has already been developed, analyzing, understanding it and working with the other back end developer was quite a great learning experience.” – Owen Beatty

Technologies used

• JavaScript
• React
• Python
• Django
• MongoDB
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Entrepreneurs and members of Red River College faculty enjoyed a catered lunch & learn presentation about the funding opportunities provided by Mitacs, a national not-for-profit organization that builds partnerships between industry and post-secondary institutions to support industrial and social innovation in Canada with the ultimate goal of commercializing academic research.

Brent Wennekes, Director of Business Development (Manitoba) at Mitacs, described how their Accelerate program pairs entrepreneurs and companies working across all sectors of the economy with student research opportunities. Mr. Wennekes provided details about the funding model and the application process, which include a $7,500 contribution from a business in exchange for a $15,000 research award from Mitacs to support a research student intern for four months. Mitacs funding has spearheaded many of the four-month projects delivered at the ACE Project Space.

Mitacs funding recipient and CEO of ioAirFlow, Matt Schaubroeck, described his experience of having leveraged Mitacs funding while working a full-time job to kickstart his new venture. Mr. Schaubroek’s company is building an AI-supported solution using a network of temperature sensors to provide building owners and tenants with the data they need to increase energy efficiency. The research student embedded at the ACE Project Space as part of the ioAirFlow project was integral in building a marketable solution that won stage time at the Falling Walls Lab pitch contest in Berlin.

Stephen Lawrence, ACE Project Space Coordinator, shared the opportunity and process that lend to entrepreneurs the application development skills of fourth term students at the ACE Project Space with support from Mitacs. Mr. Lawrence described how the mutually beneficial relationship provides students with valuable real life project experience while providing entrepreneurs with the ability to bring their ideas to fruition.

To learn more about how to bring your business ideas to life at the ACE Project Space, please contact Stephen Lawrence, ACE Project Space Coordinator or visit our ACE Project Space web site.

Register as a Business Delegate on Eventbrite

Register as an RRC Student or RRC Staff on Eventbrite

Our third annual BTM TalentMash is brought to you by ITAC Talent, a Division of the ITAC (Information Technology Association of Canada), our Breakfast and Lunch Sponsor: 24-7 Intouch, and Red River College.

The event is set for Monday, October 21, 2019 at CanadInns Destination Centre Polo Park.  We will start the day off with keynote speaker Gord Gibben, followed by breakout sessions with Adam Hendrickson, Ben Goldstein, and Karen Allardice.  Our MC for the day is Kathy Knight, CEO, from ICTAM.  In the afternoon attendees can network and visit our exhibitor booths, followed by a panel presentation.

Attendees will include industry, RRC Staff, and around 200 of our BTM students.  We would love to see you there!

Register to attend as a business delegate here:  Business Delegate Registration

The Department of Applied Computer Education would like to congratulate all of our 2019 student award recipients for their achievements over the past year.

Students were selected across all of our IBIT, BIT, BTM, and InfoSec programs. The Applied Computer Education Awards presentation brochure contains the complete list of awards and recipients.

Download the Awards Presentation Brochure

Each spring, RRC’s Applied Computer Education Department runs Technology Camps for high-school students of all genders and to middle-school girls out of the Exchange District Campus. The camps allow young people to explore different technologies through diverse hands-on activities.

Building connections and bringing learning opportunities

In spring 2019, Red River College staff members, Stephen Jay, Cristy Kubara and Marnie-Leigh Boulet, brought the highly successful Technology Camps to three different schools in Brazil.

This unique opportunity came about after the Chair of ACE, Haider Al-Saidi, went with a delegation to Brazil in the fall of 2018. While there, he made connections with several schools that were interested in bringing the RRC Technology Camps to their students. After some follow-up communication, the camps were scheduled at the Pan American Christian Academy, Metodista Bertioga school and the Metodista school in Sao Paulo.

Similar to the Technology Camps in Winnipeg, the objective of the camps in Brazil was to show students what the Information Technology industry is all about and to potentially get them interested in a career in I.T. The camps also provided students with new material and experiences they may not have otherwise encountered.

The students who attended were a mix of male and female high school students (grade 10-12) and each camp had approximately 25 attendees. The day involved four different sessions that were one hour each, topics included, web development, database development, networking and web security. Stephen Jay taught each camp, while Cristy Kubara and Marnie-Leigh Boulet acted as E.A.’s.

A positive experience for the students

Not only were the camps a positive experience for the students, but the instructors also came away with success stories that made it all worth it for everyone involved. “One of the schools we went to didn’t have a data projector, which meant we had to improvise. I was writing security injections on a whiteboard. Even though the technology was sub-par, the students were helping each other, they were learning and getting it,” recalls Jay. “At another school, there were a group of kids in the back row that were ‘too cool’ to engage. As the day went on, we were able to get their attention through technology.”

“Going to Brazil and meeting all the people was such a wonderful experience,” adds Kubara. “They are so warm and welcoming. The students were so excited and willing to learn. The first thing they would talk about was wondering about how cold it is in Canada, and ‘is it really cold?’ We showed them pictures of the snow and told them how we embrace the winters rather than hide away from it. Most of them said they weren’t afraid of the cold, because it would be a better life for them in Canada.”

At the moment there are no set dates for another round of Technology Camps in Brazil, but the schools and RRC instructors are both hoping to organize something as soon as next spring.

View photos of the Brazil Technology Camps

Three representatives from the Applied Computer Education (ACE) department made the journey to Brazil this spring to participate in a series of meetings and events. The trip comes after a successful visit from the ACE department along with RRC’s International Education office in September 2018.

Stops in Fortaleza, Brasília, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro

Cristy Kubara, Marnie-Leigh Boulet and Stephen Jay went on the follow-up trip in March 2019, stopping in Fortaleza (Northeast), Brasília (Brazil’s capital city, Centre-West), São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (Southeast).

The goal for the ACE department during their trips was to position RRC as the institution of choice for Brazilian students who want to further their studies, specifically in the Information Technology (IT) sector in Winnipeg. On the most recent trip; RRC ACE staff visited four post-secondary institutions, presented their custom designed technology camps to high school students and participated in one of the most popular educational trade shows in Brazil.

They visited the Higher Education Institute of Brasília, the Pan American Christian Academy, Metodista and the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology in Ceará. They explored various collaboration ideas, including joint programs, partnership on applied research activities, academic exchanges, along with special projects and internships for Canadian students.

Another important aspect of the trip was meeting with the Canadian Trade Commissioners to first thank them for the great job they are doing representing Canada in Brazil, and to also learn more about how RRC can enhance the ACE department’s brand in Brazil.

“As this was my first time in Brazil, it was imperative for me to understand what Brazilians want to know when it comes to choosing Canadian institutions for their higher education” said Marnie-Leigh Boulet. “We discovered that the main reason why international students from Brazil choose Canada for higher education is to increase chances of receiving gainful employment upon graduation.”

Raising awareness about ACE programs in Winnipeg

International recruitment fairs in Brazil tend to be very well attended, but most potential students are only familiar with the major cities in Canada, specifically Vancouver and Toronto. “One thing we did find was that while we were promoting our programs and the college, we also had to promote Winnipeg and Manitoba,” said Boulet.

“One of the first things they asked was how cold it was,” added Kubara. Winnipeg is much smaller in comparison to Sao Paulo (population of 19 million people), so many of them liked the idea of Winnipeg.”

The recruitment fairs ended up being a great success, with over 350 connections made with people who are interested in Red River College programs.

Although the trip is over, the work isn’t finished, RRC is currently focused on formalizing a partnership with several Brazilian post-secondary institutions.