It was a capacity room of nearly 200 hungry guests following the morning Student Research Showcase at Applied Research & Innovation Day on April 6, 2017.
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Red River College welcomed over 600 visitors to the first-ever Applied Research & Innovation Day on April 6, celebrating student achievements in applied research and innovation while recognizing the College’s innovative research partnerships.
“That was the most exciting event I’ve been to in many years,” said Jeff Ryzner, North Forge President and guest Student Quick-Research Pitch judge, immediately following the event.
“It’s not news that RRC is focused on applied research, but it has never held such a public demonstration of its commitment to that mode of learning,” wrote Winnipeg Free Press business reporter, Martin Cash.
College President Paul Vogt participated in the event and said that judging by what he’d seen, this may be the inaugural event, but it certainly won’t be the last.
CLICK HERE to read about the capacity luncheon with guest Emcee Ace Burpee, keynote speaker Todd Burns and winners of the Top 4 student project Quick Pitch Competition.
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Register now for this March 17 event to learn about award-winning technologies for mobile video collaboration by Winnipeg’s Librestream Technologies. Its Onsight Collaboration Mobile Platform allows companies to bring their experts to field situations virtually, from anywhere, at any time.
The results are:
Organizers of this session will also announce details of a six-month demonstration installation of the technology at Red River College’s MotiveLab, which companies can access to see the technology at work.
This session is geared towards service organization managers, engineers and technicians, as well as executives and technology integrators.
Marieke Wijtkamp is the VP of Marketing and Client Services at Librestream, with 15 years of senior leadership experience. Marieke has held prior positions in strategic planning and corporate leadership in several technology companies. Prior to Librestream, she was the President & COO of OMT, serving global radio broadcasters and retail chains. Before that, Marieke was VP, Strategic Planning at Norsat International Inc., a global satellite technology company.
Dave Baxter is the Director of Sales for Midwest at Librestream, with over 20 years’ experience in sales, sales leadership, and strategic customer initiatives. Dave has a proven track record of success in a variety of verticals including the aerospace, manufacturing, and automotive industries.
For manufacturers of high-value equipment for transportation, aerospace, agriculture, mining and other industries, the quality of after-sale support is a key differentiator and critical to a company’s competitiveness.
Customers’ demand for increased asset uptime and for rapid response times to service mission-critical equipment are fundamental challenges faced by teams providing in-field service.
This is made all-the-more challenging with increasing product complexity, an aging workforce and a requirement to manage or reduce costs.
Best-in-class companies are facing these challenges with technologies that leverage the “Internet of Things” to offer efficient tools for mobile video collaboration, bringing experts into the field virtually to rapidly and efficiently respond to customers’ service needs.
Presented by Vehicle Technology Centre & Red River College.
After a long wait, the ACE Project Space moved to its new location at 321 McDermot right at the heart of Winnipeg Innovation Alley.
Allow the Chair of Applied Computer Education at Red River College, Haider Al-Saidi, to introduce you to the ACE Project Space.
“It seems like a dream come true!” writes Haider. “A year ago we were struggling with the space to host the increasing number of students taking the project term […] Now we have this beautiful 5,500 sq.ft. space where we can do great things.”
Click here to read on.
Tech-Access Canada, the national network of Canada’s 30 Technology Access Centres (TACs), last week announced its Advisory Board members for 2017.
Red River College is home to two of Canada’s TACs:
The Building Envelope Technology Access Centre (BETAC)
The Technology Access Centre for Aerospace & Manufacturing (TACAM)
Among the Advisory Board members are Ray Hoemsen, Executive Director of Research Partnerships & Innovation at Red River College.
About Tech-Access Canada
The newly appointed nine-member Advisory Board is made up of representatives from the member Technology Access Centres across the country, and is responsible for setting and adjusting the strategic objectives for Tech-Access Canada.
David Berthiaume, Executive Director of OLEOTEK, was elected Chair of Tech-Access Canada.
Technology Access Centres are specialized applied R&D centres affiliated with Canadian colleges or Cégeps.
Demand-driven TACs help Canadian businesses – especially SMEs – advance their products, processes and services by:
Tech-Access Canada is the national network of Canada’s Technology Access Centres (TACs).
The network enables the TACs to serve any company, anywhere in Canada, and help them access the expertise, equipment, and facilities they need to solve their innovation challenges. The network’s members provide clients and partners from across Canada with access to:
CTV Morning Live reporter Rachel Lagacé hung out with Baxter the robot this morning during Red River College’s Open House.
“The new paradigm in robotics is what we call collaborative robotics,” said Oyedele Ola, Manager of the Technology Access Centre for Aerospace & Manufacturing. “The essence of that is to get robots to work alongside human beings.”
During the CTV interview, our collaborative robot Baxter can be seen picking up Easter eggs and placing them into appropriate baskets by matching the egg’s colour to the basket colour.
Jasvir Bharj, an Instructor in Manufacturing Engineering Technology, says that he and others work to teach students how to program robots, how to run those programs and apply them to things like welding, cutting and handling materials.
CTV Morning Live were on campus as part of Red River College’s Open House, which continues this evening and on Wednesday.
You can watch the interview here.
The grain that goes into making this freshly poured beer can be put to good use. (Photo by Flickr user Adam Barhan, Creative Commons Licence.)
Manitoba is witnessing the emergence of a flourishing beer brewing market, and malt is a core ingredient of the brewing process.
Mashing malt is one of the first steps in the beer production process, and the resulting spent grains are typically used as animal feed.
But researchers at Red River College are exploring an innovative new way to use these spent grains.
In partnership with two local brewers, Torque Brewing and Farmery, the Red River College Culinary Research Program will explore the possibility of using these two sources of spent grains to create Miso, a traditional fermented bean or grain paste that has been around for over 1,000 years. Miso is widely used to flavour soups and broths in many Asian countries like China, Japan and Korea.
Tourque spent grain on the left and Farmery spent grain on the right. Can these grains help make Miso?
A warm soup with some miso flavouring. (Photo by Flickr user Stacy Spensley, Creative Commons Licence.)
From Breweries to Miso: Behind the Science
Miso develops a rich meaty flavour through a two-step fermentation process using molds and bacteria to break down the base-substrates into a rich cocktail of amino acids, free fatty acids and sugars.
The first step in the process is to create “koji” or “moldy grain” which provides a source of enzymes to the second step in the process—fermentation.
The typical starting material to make koji is polished rice, barley, or soy beans.
This research project aims to test the potential of spent grains (SG) from local brewers to act as the substrate for koji mold rather than using whole barley.
Unlike the traditional grains, spent grain is broken up and nutrients have been extracted during the wort production, so it is unknown if spent grain will provide sufficient nutrients for the koji molds to properly form or if suitable flavours develop.
As to how koji is traditionally made, the hydrated grains are inoculated with Aspergillus oryzae spores and allowed to grow for up to 48 hours to develop a thick white mat of mold, but stopped before spores develop. If spores develop, the koji has been left too long and may create flavour and safety concerns.
Putting it to the test: a microscopic view of the fomentation process, taken at the University of Manitoba, a partner in this research project.
The koji is then mixed in with cooked and cooled soybeans or barley and up to 12% salt, then inoculated again with a miso seed culture consisting of a mixture of beneficial yeasts and bacteria.
This mixture is allowed to ferment from a minimum of 2 months up to 3 years.
This process develops the rich flavours and colours associated with miso. Unpasteurized miso also provides a source of healthy gut bacteria or probiotics.
We look forward to seeing whether spent grains from local brewers can act as the substrate for koji mold rather than using whole barley.
You can follow the progress of this miso production trial @RRCResearch.
This project is supported by MAHRN and NSERC through Red River College.
Top row: Rob Spewak, RRC BETAC Manager; Lloyd Kuczek, VP with Manitoba Hydro; Jose Delos Reyes, RRC Research Manager. Bottom row: Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science; Ray Hoemsen, RRC Research Director; David Johnston, Governor General of Canada; Neil Cooke, Dean, Teaching Excellence, Innovation and Research, RRC; Mario Pinto, President of NSERC. Credit: MCpl Vincent Carbonneau, Rideau Hall, OSGG
Red River College is #1 on the Prairies in research, according to the latest Top 50 ranking of Canadian research colleges.
It’s not the first time RRC has been recognized as a leading college research institution, having ranked previously in Research Infosources’s top ten for three years running, and having earlier this year received the prestigious Synergy Award for Innovation from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Governor General of Canada.
“We definitely appreciate the acknowledgement of our efforts, but the true value of this recognition is realized when we further spread the word that Red River College serves as a critical partner in innovation for so many organizations,” says Paul Vogt, RRC’s president and CEO.
“As we continue to make substantial investments in applied research and learning resources, we see increasing interest from industry partners for us to help them solve problems, innovate, and produce graduates with the advanced technology training needed for today’s globally-competitive environment.”
The College’s swath of research resources continued to expand this year when RRC received $5.9-million in federal funding – the largest influx of research dollars in the College’s history – from NSERC and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). This new investment allowed the College to boost innovation capacity in Manitoba’s vehicle technology and food development sectors.
“It’s exciting to see how far we’ve come in such a short period of time, and to witness the positive impact our work has had on so many projects throughout our province,” says Ray Hoemsen, executive director of Research Partnerships & Innovation at RRC.
The College has been involved in a number of notable projects, such as the all-electric transit bus (developed in conjunction with New Flyer, Manitoba Hydro, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the province, and others), and Manitoba Hydro’s downtown office building, where RRC tested and evaluated advanced designs and building products that helped make the structure one of the most energy efficient in North America.
“We’ve had a number of high-profile projects which really help raise awareness of our capabilities,” says Hoemsen. “But there is so much more going on beneath the surface, especially in areas like early child development, international business intelligence, clean water technology, and in the area of startup/entrepreneur support.”
Some of the latest research being pioneered at the College relates to the development of MotiveLab, which will feature a 3,000-square foot environmental chamber (large enough to fit a bus) that allows local industry to test products in all manner of environmental conditions.
The College has also recently emerged as a key player in culinary research, having helped Manitoba food producers and distributors create new products and develop innovative uses for locally grown food in healthy menu items.
“From the food we eat, to the transit buses on our road, to the office buildings that we work in, our research has expanded to a point where we are seeing more and more tangible results that will give Manitoba industry a competitive advantage on a global scale,” says Vogt.“It’s something all of us can be proud of.”
In collaboration with BlackBerry, the Executive Leadership Roundtable is taking place at the Information and Communication Technologies Association of Manitoba (ICTAM) on November 10, 2016. This half-day event will focus on the topic of Enabling and Building Business Resilience to Drive Performance.
During this session, executives from IT, Operations, Finance, HR and Innovation will come together to discover how other leading-edge organizations are enabling and building business resilience to deliver superior performance. Participants will also identify emerging challenges brought on by innovation, technology development, and disruption, and explore ways that leaders can respond to these issues while leveraging technology for opportunity. As part of the session, attendees will have the opportunity to learn about some of the innovative technology solutions being used to enable business resilience at the enterprise level. Attendees will also take part in a facilitated discussion with peers, identifying actionable steps they can take in their own organizations. A balanced approach of presentations, facilitation, and open discussion will be used throughout the event.
To view the detailed agenda and program for this special half-day Executive Leadership Roundtable, Click here.
This is a complimentary event and includes a luncheon. To register, please complete the registration form.
A huge crowd came out to the Innovation Alley Block Party yesterday to celebrate the success that the collective group of startups is having by leveraging the resources available in the Alley, especially those from North Forge and Bell MTS.
The crowd – which consisted of many Red River College students, instructors and innovation leaders – also came to hear the next big announcement for Winnipeg’s thriving startup ecosystem.
RRC president, Paul Vogt and other RRC innovation leaders with Jeff Ryzner, president of North Forge and Patrick Lorr of 500 Startups Canada.
Scott MacAulay and RRC president Paul Vogt talking Innovation Alley.
RRC Polytech campuses are located on the lands of Anishinaabe, Ininiwak, Anishininew, Dakota, and Dené, and the National Homeland of the Red River Métis.
We recognize and honour Treaty 3 Territory Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, the source of Winnipeg’s clean drinking water. In addition, we acknowledge Treaty Territories which provide us with access to electricity we use in both our personal and professional lives.
