News

Congratulations to the most recent recipients of Red River College’s Lieutenant-Governor’s Medals for Proficiency: Katrina Clarke (Civil Engineering Technology) and Lauren MacLean (Business Administration).

Each year, a maximum of four Lt-.Gov.’s Medals are awarded to RRC students who best combine good character, academic and technical achievement, and involvement in the College and/or community. This year’s winners embodied every aspect of the award.

Katrina Clarke (Civil Engineering Technology)

Originally from Miniota, Man., Clark (shown above, at left) graduated from Birtle Collegiate in 2009. After working for a surveying company after graduating, she enrolled in RRC’s Civil Engineering Technology program, where she majored in Municipal Engineering Technology.

In May of this year, Clark began working as part of Ducks Unlimited Canada’s Wetlands Restoration Team — as an engineering technologist dedicated to restoring drained and damaged wetlands throughout Manitoba.

Currently living in Brandon, Clark is heavily involved with Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and is passionate about animals and the outdoors. While at RRC, she was a member of the Rebels Women’s Soccer team, making her the third Rebels athlete in two years to win a Lt.-Gov.’s Medal. (Fellow Rebels Kimberly Cowan and Abby Silva won in 2013.)

Lauren MacLean (Business Administration)

A 2010 graduate of Morden Collegiate, MacLean originally enrolled in the University of Manitoba’s U1 program, with the hopes of transferring into the Faculty of Engineering.

After “failing miserably” in her first year (her words!), she opted to instead enroll in RRC’s Business Administration program, with a major in Accounting. She also ramped up her extra-curricular involvement, joining the RRC Students’ Association as a class rep and later running successfully for SA president.

MacLean now works for Richardson as an accounting clerk in the Engineering department. She remains passionate about her RRC roots, and plans to continue along the educational path the College helped her develop.

A film festival submission about a tattooed hipster puppet has earned a pair of Red River College students a $2,500 prize.

Modern Love, a five-minute short by first-year Creative Communications students Matthew Dyck and Tedi Gilmartin, was the third-place winner at this year’s Big Rock Eddies Short Film Festival in Calgary.

The humorous short, which details the “un-traditional” romance between a woman named Blaire and a puppet (sorry, “plush person”) named Zane, began as a student project for Gilmartin and Dyck’s advertising class.

The pair then entered the project in the Eddies’ inaugural short film festival (newly rebranded after 22 years celebrating mock ads and commercials for Big Rock Breweries.)

This year’s event drew close to 50 submissions — all based on the theme of “tradition” — which were then reviewed by a panel of judges that included Emmy-winning producer Chad Oakes and Hell On Wheels star Anson Mount.

This marks the fifth consecutive year that CreComm students have placed in the competition, and the first year that a CreComm video entry brought home an award.

Visit the Big Rock site to view the top three winning entries.

Red River College will pay tribute to a pair of community leaders and passionate Manitobans at tomorrow’s spring convocation ceremony at the Centennial Concert Hall.

This year’s Honorary Diploma recipients are Dave Angus (Business Administration), President and CEO of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce (shown above at right) and Ace Burpee (Creative Communications), local radio host and community advocate (shown at left).

“Both recipients are leaders in their community; their contributions are widely known and well respected,” says Interim RRC President David Rew. “On behalf of the Board of Governors and the Awards Committee, I congratulate both individuals for their outstanding contributions to our community and for their work as advocates for Red River College.”

Angus has been a long-standing fixture in Winnipeg’s business community, having served as the Chamber of Commerce’s chair and as its president and CEO since 1999. Under his leadership the Chamber has increased its membership to the highest level in its history, and has been recognized by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce as an Accredited Chamber with Distinction.

Angus also played an instrumental role in bringing a World Trade Centre to Winnipeg, and in establishing Leadership Winnipeg, Yes! Winnipeg and the BOLD initiative — a grassroots public policy campaign designed to mobilize community support for forward-thinking ideas that will increase prosperity in the city.

Host of The Ace Burpee Show on 103.1 Virgin Radio, Burpee has been a leader in Winnipeg’s broadcast industry for more than a decade, and is well known for the hundreds of charitable events and causes — both local and international — that he donates his time to every year.

Through his tireless efforts, he has helped to raise millions of dollars for countless charities, while raising awareness of many important social and community issues. Read More →

Each year, the Red River College Students’ Association presents a Teaching Award of Excellence in recognition of one instructor’s outstanding teaching practices and dedication to students.

The recipient of this year’s award is Treena Chabot, an instructor with RRC’s Applied Commerce and Management Education (ACME) department.

Back when Treena Chabot was of babysitting age, she used to seat her younger sisters in desks and assign them homemade quizzes.

No surprise, then, that she went on to build a career in education — or that her passion for making a difference in people’s lives has led to recognition from her very own students.

An instructor with RRC’s Applied Commerce and Management Education (ACME) department, Chabot got her start at the College’s Portage Campus in 2000, where she taught Office Technician courses for the School of Continuing Education.

She moved to the Notre Dame Campus a year later and joined the ACME team (then known as Marketing Management), where she developed the Office Management major and taught various Business Administration courses.

Having earned both a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Manitoba, Chabot was uniquely well-suited to work with students in RRC’s business programs.

Over the years, she’s taken a lead role on a number of related initiatives, including the development of the College’s new Human Resource Management major, and last year’s launch of First Impressions — a speed-dating-style networking event that has already led to employment opportunities for a number of RRC business students.  Read More →

Six Red River College students were among the Team Manitoba members who picked up medals at last weekend’s Skills Canada National Competition in Saskatchewan.

The students were part of a team of 60 high school, college and apprentice-level participants in the annual Olympic-style competition, which took place May 27-30 at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon.

All told, Team Manitoba brought home 27 medals — 10 gold, 11 silver and six bronze — from the event, which saw 550 young students and apprentices from across Canada competing in 46 different trades areas.

“I wish to congratulate Team Manitoba on their medals … and also to recognize our staff’s support,” says David Rew, interim president of RRC, which hosted Team Manitoba’s provincial qualifying rounds on April 9 of this year.

“Our College is committed to supporting skilled trades, as not only the host site for the annual Skills Canada Manitoba Competition, but also on a national level, with a large contingent of staff attending and supporting by judging, volunteering and contributing through the National Technical Committee.” Read More →

Red River College was recognized twice last month for excellence in building management and environmental responsibility, picking up a pair of honours at BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) Manitoba’s 2015 Awards of Excellence.

The College’s wins both came in BOMA’s Earth Awards category, with downtown’s Roblin Centre recognized in the Mixed-Use Building division, and the Notre Dame Campus’s Heavy Equipment Transportation Centre (HETC) in the Light Industrial category.

The Roblin Centre’s award celebrates a number of sustainable milestones, including a recent retrocomissioning process that focused on documentation and training to help improve energy efficiency and identify energy-saving opportunities.

BOMA’s Awards of Excellence program is designed to align with program requirements of BOMA Canada and BOMA International.

Last year, RRC’s Paterson GlobalFoods Institute (PGI) was recognized in the Multi-Use Building category. The Roblin Centre, HETC and PGI are all included on BOMA’s BESt (Building Environmental Standards)-Certified Buildings list.

Shown above: Murray Hiebert, Exchange District Campus Maintenance Manager; Tom Skraba, Director, Facility Management; and Dave Wozny, Technical Officer.

The College paid tribute to its largest group ever of Bravo Award recipients last month, during a reception that brought together staff and instructors from a wide swath of departments and program areas.

At the seventh annual Bravo lunch, held in the Jane’s dining room at the Paterson GlobalFoods Institute, RRC paid its highest level of recognition to employees who put the College’s core values into action by modelling leadership, professionalism and innovation in their work practices.

“Many of your co-workers, in the nominations they submitted about you, talked about how they aspire to conduct themselves with the care and compassion you demonstrate to others,” interim president David Rew told recipients.

“They see how you lead through your actions, and they want to learn from you in the way that you motivate others. They are inspired to perform with the same work ethic and skills that you bring to your roles.”

This year’s recipients include: Read More →

Red River College earned a bronze award for Innovation in Applied Research this week, during the closing gala of College and Institute Canada’s (CICan) annual conference in Winnipeg.

The award celebrates the College’s dynamic applied research partnership with Manitoba Hydro.

“We are pleased to be recognized for the work we have done with Manitoba Hydro, one of our most important research partners and graduate employers,” said David Rew, interim president and CEO of RRC. “What an excellent opportunity to celebrate our research achievements in sustainable technology and design.”

The College’s research collaboration with Manitoba Hydro has focused primarily on green building design and technology, and on the electrification of vehicles. Two of its most notable projects include Manitoba Hydro’s award-winning energy efficient downtown office tower and more recently, the all-electric transit bus.

“Our partnership with RRC has fostered an environment for creative integration on leading-edge technology that contributes to a more sustainable future,” said Scott Thomson, president and CEO of Manitoba Hydro. “We view our relationship with the College as an important driver for long-term change that will promote continued innovation and advancement of energy efficiency in Manitoba.” Read More →

Big ideas led to big returns at this year’s Independent Professional Project (IPP) presentations, where students from Red River College’s Creative Communications program raised nearly $30,000 for a range of worthy charities and causes.

CreComm’s IPP component consists of two full-credit courses in which second-year students are tasked with conceptualizing, planning, marketing and executing an independent project that falls under one of three categories: research, promotional or creative.

The projects themselves take a wide range of forms, including events, documentaries, promotional videos, websites, books and novellas, musical endeavors, and advertising, marketing and promotional campaigns.

Often, they include a fundraising component. This year’s beneficiaries included Siloam Mission, KidSport Winnipeg, the Manitoba Down Syndrome Society, Resource Assistance for Youth, the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba, Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief, The Wasichana Fund, the Margaret Pidlaski Scholarship Fund, and the Health Sciences Centre’s Adult Eating Disorders Program.

All told, the projects raised a total of $29,568 for the above-mentioned organizations. Read More →

Red River College alum Paul Charette, former CEO of Bird Construction, and his wife Gerri have donated $1 million towards the establishment of a research chair for RRC’s School of Construction and Engineering Technology (SCET).

The province will provide matching funds to create the new chair position, which will be called the Paul Charette – Manitoba Applied Research Chair in Sustainable Construction.

“We are humbled by Paul and Gerri’s generous commitment and very pleased that the province has responded with matching funds,” says David Rew, interim president of RRC. “It’s an excellent show of confidence in SCET, and in our nationally recognized applied research program.”

The new position will support student learning while helping the construction industry develop innovative processes, technologies and applications to reduce costs, boost productivity and create more sustainable infrastructure. The Chair will also lead SCET’s research program.

“Being a 40-year veteran of the construction sector, it’s clear that research and innovation are lagging far behind other sectors,” says Charette. “I believe that sustainable infrastructure is what our industry really needs to move toward.” Read More →