For immediate release: March 24, 2022

Winnipeg, Manitoba on Treaty No. 1 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis Nation –For more than 15 years, RRC Polytech’s Research Partnerships & Innovation enterprise has collaborated with local industry and community partners to find solutions to real-world challenges. And, over the course of the last five months, work has been underway on RRC Polytech’s new Academic Plan and Research Plan, focusing on alignment with the key commitments of the Strategic Plan, In Front of What’s Ahead.
 
Both plans will support how RRC Polytech will live its bold new direction over the next five years, and play significant roles in how the College achieves a renewed commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, deepens relationships with employers, industry and community partners, and supports growth and prosperity within Manitoba.

As of April 1, 2022, the Research, Partnerships & Innovation (RPI) department will be re-aligned to join the Indigenous Strategy and Business Development portfolio, a newly re-imagined area at RRC Polytech, led by Vice President, James (Jamie) Wilson. This re-alignment was largely guided through the process of developing the new Research Plan.
 
“This change in structure was a natural fit, as several goals in the Research Plan align extremely well with the mandate of RRC Polytech’s newly created Indigenous Strategy and Business Development portfolio,” says Fred Meier, President and CEO, RRC Polytech.
 
“This re-alignment is one of the ways we are positioning RRC Polytech to achieve our strategic goals and elevate our role in strengthening Manitoba’s economic, social, environmental and cultural prosperity.”
 
The College’s newly re-imagined area led by Vice President, Jamie Wilson, will now be Indigenous Strategy, Research and Business Development. Through the recent introduction of this role, Jamie Wilson, has already identified many opportunities to provide a suite of services including the continued service model that positions RRC Polytech as a responsive and client-centred partner for industry and employers. This service model is one that RPI continues to successfully leverage, providing solutions for industry challenges and delivering in-demand training to meet labour market needs.
 
“The overlap between business development, applied research and Indigenous growth is what differentiates Manitoba on a global scale. This is an empowerment of Manitoba’s value proposition,” says Jamie Wilson, Vice President, Indigenous Strategy, Research and Business Development.
 
“The re-alignment of the Research, Partnerships & Innovation department will ensure research at the College is approached through an Indigenous lens, and open up new opportunities for collaboration on shared goals and initiatives between academic programs, applied research, and business development.”
 
As Manitoba’s Polytechnic, applied research will continue to play a key role in academic programs, providing high quality work-integrated learning opportunities for RRC Polytech students, including the integration of capstone projects into curricula.

RPI will continue to engage in the important work that it has set out to accomplish and re-alignment in this new portfolio will truly enable RRC Polytech’s work to expands its reach, creating the right connections within the College, and in the community to support the Research Plan’s ambitious goals and strategic direction over the next five years.  

The re-envisioned area of Indigenous Strategy, Research and Business Development presents an exciting new opportunity to create and deepen partnerships between the business community, College, and Indigenous community. And this opportunity will make a major impact as RRC Polytech embeds Truth and Reconciliation and pursues equity, diversity, and inclusion in everything we do.

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Research, Partnerships & Innovation (RPI) at RRC Polytech involves applied research spanning sectors from aerospace to early childhood education and can include innovations in products, processes and the diffusion of information and technology. RPI is home to three Technology Access Centres (TACs) – Building Efficiency Technology Access Centre (BETAC), Prairie Research Kitchen (PRK), and Technology Access Centre for Aerospace and Manufacturing (TACAM) – and dynamic research facilities, including the Vehicle Technology & Energy Centre (VTEC) and the Science of Early Childhood Education (SECD) initiative. To learn more about RPI, visit rrc.ca/research.