News

Kirk Johnson, Blair Fraser, and Yanik Sourisseau, at PMI Manitoba's annual conference.

Recent Red River College graduate Blair Fraser has been recognized by the Manitoba arm of the Project Management Institute (PMI), having earned a $1,000 award from the organization at its annual conference last week.

Fraser was acknowledged just months after receiving his certificate in Project Management from RRC's School of Continuing and Distance Education. The award from PMI Manitoba recognizes his outstanding achievement as a student.

"We ask the instructors to think about the graduating class, and nominate the student that they would be most likely to refer to a colleague.  Naturally this nomination is partially based on student grades, however it also recognizes attitude, drive, determination, initiative and teamwork skills,” said Kirk Johnson, the College's Program Manager, Information, Technology and Professional Studies.

For the second year in a row, Red River College served as Title sponsor for the event, which drew upwards of 150 participants — many of them RRC graduates who were attending on behalf of corporate Manitoba. This year, the College was proud to show off its newly-earned PMI Registered Educational Provider (R.E.P) status — a recognition that lets people know PMI has reviewed RRC's material and recognizes it to be on par with their high standards of training. At present, R.E.P status is recognized in over 70 countries worldwide.

"Red River College is a massive influence on PMI, because they offer the Project Management accreditation process — where you receive the training required to qualify you to write your certification exam," explained Yanik Sourisseau, chair of communications for PMI Manitoba.

"Not only do those courses give you the tools to become a better project manager, they are recognized internationally as the certification steps toward being qualified to write your exam."

Fraser, who currently serves as aproject manager and senior structural engineer for Stantec Consulting, credits his time at RRC with allowing him to take on more responsibilities at work.

"In most companies, they do have a project management philosophy, but nothing that's formally in place," said Fraser.

"Taking the program gives you the ability to go forth and learn the formalities behind the skills — to learn additional skills, and how to implement them in the workplace."

Click here to learn more about RRC's Project Management course.

 
Chris Stoddart, VP Engineering Services for New Flyer Industries, provides details of RRC's new electric vehicle partnership. 

Premier Greg Selinger today announced the province will invest $1 million for the development of an all-electric transit bus and charging system, and $100,000 for the creation of an electric-vehicle learning and demonstration centre at Red River College, two of several initiatives under Manitoba’s Electric Vehicle Road Map.

“This is exciting.  We are working together to develop an entirely electric bus to get families around in cities all over North America,” said Selinger.  “We’re also creating opportunities for young people right here in the province to become leaders in developing and building clean, electric vehicles and helping cut greenhouse-gas emissions.”

The $3-million, three-year project brings Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, New Flyer Industries, Manitoba Hydro, Red River College and the province together.  The bus development will be completed within one year and tested in Manitoba for two more years, the premier said.  Project development will be focused at Red River College and New Flyer Industries’ Winnipeg facilities.

The electric-bus development will benefit from New Flyer’s experience in building hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell buses, Mitsubishi’s leading-edge lithium-ion battery technologies, Manitoba Hydro’s grid-management knowledge and Red River College’s instructors and students who can assist in solving the technological challenges coming from the project.

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Sara MacArthur, RRC's Manager of Sustainability, inside one of the College's new greenhouses.

Red River College has been named one of Canada’s 50 Greenest Employers for 2011 by Mediacorp Canada Inc.

RRC received this prestigious honour thanks to its initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of College operations, incorporate sustainability into its research and academic programming, and engage staff and students in more eco-conscious behaviour.

"We’re proud that staff and students have embraced our commitment to adopt sustainable business practices and become a more socially responsible organization," said Stephanie Forsyth, President of Red River College. "This award recognizes the efforts of the many green leaders we have throughout the College."

Some of RRC’s recent environmental accomplishments include:

• Increasing waste diversion rates by over 30% by implementing a new recycling system.
• Conducting testing on new technologies for green construction and alternative energy vehicles through our applied research department.
• Operating an on-site program at the Notre Dame Campus that turns organic kitchen waste into compost that’s used on College grounds.
• Converting used cooking oil into biodiesel that can be used to power College vehicles.
• Building new facilities, such as the Heavy Equipment transportation Centre and the Paterson GlobalFoods Institute, to meet LEED standards of energy efficiency.

RRC is one of only two Manitoba organizations to be named to this year’s Greenest Employer list (along with New Flyer Industries), and one of only five post-secondary institutions across Canada.

The award is the latest in a series of green honours for the College, including a 2009 Manitoba Excellence in Sustainability Award, a 2010 Spirit of Winnipeg Award, and top finishes in the last two Winnipeg Commuter Challenges.

"Red River College is dedicated to being a sustainability role model in our community," explained Sara MacArthur, Manager of Sustainability at RRC.  "Sustainability isn’t limited to one office or one area in the College. It’s in our daily operations, our building projects, our research endeavours, our student projects and more."

Launched in 2007, the Canada’s Greenest Employers competition recognizes organizations that lead the nation in creating a culture of environmental awareness in their workplaces.

Creative Arts students from Red River College continue to blaze trails in the realm of online publication, having recently launched their own "ePubs": interactive magazines designed specifically for the iPad's Adobe Viewer app.

The consortium of RRC-ers — comprised of second-year Graphic Design students and Advertising majors from the Creative Communications program — spent the better part of their academic year writing, designing, programming and publishing the ePubs, which are now available for free download (link to downloading instructions below).

The ePubs — which include motion graphics and video, and feature ads for both Red River College and Berns & Black Salon & Spa (this semester's advertising client) — were created with college-aged students in mind, says CreComm instructor Kenton Larsen.

“An advertising professional does a lot more today than just write copy,” says Larsen. “This project is a great opportunity to show that RRC, Creative Communications, and Graphic Design aren't spinning their wheels in the bygone days of the communications biz, but continue to keep moving forward at the forefront of the industry.”

The ePub project was funded by an award from RRC's Program Innovation Fund, which was established to support technological innovation and continuous improvements in academic programming at the College.

See Larsen's blog for links to examples of the students' ePubs, and for detailed instructions on how to download the entries to your iPad.

Now here's a mafia you wouldn't mind messing with.

Several decades' worth of Creative Communications students (known in local media circles as the "CreComm Mafia") gathered yesterday to pay tribute to a colleague, mentor and friend: departing Red River College instructor Steve Vogelsang, who'll be moving to British Columbia at the end of the school year.

The combined send-off and reunion, held at The Roblin Centre downtown, drew upwards of 250 people — many of them current CreComm students who were taping their final "Live At Five" newscast of the year. The majority, however, were recent graduates and media colleagues who'd returned to thank Vogelsang for the impact he's had on their careers.

"It was in second year that Steve said to me, 'Martin — you should try anchoring,'" recalled recent CreComm grad Shannon Martin, who entered the program intending to study print journalism, but now works as Global Winnipeg's late-night anchor.  

"I didn't want to do it, but I did — and I loved it. Steve was the turning point in my broadcasting career."

Vogelsang joined the RRC team in 2002, following a long and distinguished career with CKY-TV (aka CTV Winnipeg). In the ensuing years, CreComm students have benefited greatly from his knowledge and experience, and from the countless curriculum-related initiatives (among them, the aforementioned "Live At Five" newscasts) he's had a hand in implementing.

"Being able to share that experience with enthusiasm and humour has made him a favourite here on campus," said RRC President Stephanie Forsyth.

Vogelsang, for his part, seemed genuinely touched by the tributes. While addressing those gathered, he referenced common qualities among the so-called mafia, including "a certain hunger, a certain desire, and certain self-destructive tendencies that cause you — against your better judgment — to put up with instructors like me."

"When you survive something like that, you're bound together with all those people who survived it right along with you," he said. "That characteristic is what brings us together as alumni. It's what makes it easier for me to go, because I'll be taking that with me."

Click here for more information on RRC's Creative Communications program.

(Left to right): CreComm students Andrew Parker, Dylan Hughes and Michelle Choy show off Upper Cruster, a magazine celebrating — what else? — Winnipeg's upper crust.

They've still got a year to go before graduating, but students in Red River College's Creative Communications program can already call themselves published writers.

The students — who've spent the last few months working on a term-long magazine project — showed off the fruits of their labours yesterday at the annual Creative Communications Magazine Fair.

Working in groups of three to four, students guide their magazines from inception stage to finished product — responsible for everything from articles and photographs to advertisements and marketing strategies.

"One of the reasons we have this project is that it brings together skills from a lot of different courses," says CreComm instructor Karen Press. "(Students) get to use their writing skills and their layout skills, and of course they're matching content to their audience — magazines are an especially good vehicle for targeting audiences."

This year's batch of entries included magazines devoted to Winnipeg's historic architecture, the transgendered community, coffee and tea beverages, and moving out on your own for the first time (among many others).

A panel of industry judges — among them, recent CreComm grad Jeffrey Vallis, whose SANDBOX Magazine (a co-creation with fellow CreComm-er Braden Alexander) has been making waves in local fashion circles — also weighed in on the students' work, awarding cash prizes to those deemed especially impressive.

The prizes, sponsored by the Manitoba Magazine Publishers Association, went to the teams responsible for Thingamajig (Best Overall — Ashley Wiebe, Pamela Wankling, Michael Badejo, Brian Bulos), Lomo (Best Design  — Garrick Kozier, Ryan McBride, Alex Rohne, Jordan Thompson), and Burlap (Best Content — Albertine Watson, Veronica Neufeld, Kevan Hannah, Jaremy Ediger).

Click here for more information about RRC's Creative Communications program.

Students from Red River College's Culinary Arts program are helping to raise money for disaster relief efforts in Japan.

Natasha Dyck and Jesse Friesen — recent Culinary Arts grads working at Tre Visi and Lobby On York, respectively — are both featured in the inaugural edition of the Canadian Culinary Federation's Made in Canada: A Collection of Recipes from Canada's Junior Chefs, an 18-month calendar highlighting the accomplishments of junior chefs from coast-to-coast.

Proceeds from the sale of the calendar were originally to go towards the 2011 Bidvest World Cooks Tour Against Hunger in South Africa, as well as the Junior Chefs Initiative in Canada. But Culinary Arts instructor Tim Appleton says his students have decided to instead donate $10 from every $20 calendar sold to World Chefs Without Borders, a humanitarian aid initiative by the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS).

To order a calendar, contact Tim Appleton at tappleton@rrc.mb.ca.

To introduce young people to career options in technology and trades-related fields, Red River College runs a series of technology workshops throughout the year. One of our most popular options is the Saturday morning "Introduction to Electronics" sessions run at our Exchange District Campus.

RRC student Luke Marvin shot a fun video about his experience helping teach the basic concepts of electronics — including voltage, current and resistance –  to junior high students as part of this year's workshop.

An eco-friendly car being designed by a team of Winnipeg engineers could soon power demand for a new era in energy efficiency, says a Red River College instructor.

For the last several years, designers and engineers from local firm Kor EcoLogic Inc. have been hard at work on the "Urbee" — a low-energy passenger vehicle that's powered by electricity and ethanol, instead of fossil fuels.

"It has the potential to drastically reduce the amount of non-renewable energy we use," says RRC instructor Andrew Warren, who's been involved with the project off and on for the last 15 years.

"We've calculated that we can go 30 miles a day on energy gathered from the sun. So theoretically, you could buy this car and not have to put gas or hydro power into it — you'd just charge it from the solar panels on your roof at home."

Warren and his colleagues, under the direction of company president (and RRC alum) Jim Kor, were inspired to create the Urbee — short for Urban Electrical with Ethanol as Backup — after building a model of a human-powered transit system for the Seattle Bicycle Show.

Guided by the same principle — that of travelling the furthest distance possible while consuming the least amount of energy — they turned their attention to a passenger car, which they originally entered in the 2010 Progressive Automotive X-PRIZE competition.

The Urbee — a sleek-looking three-wheeled model — finished in the Top 30 of 111 entries, and also resulted in a treasure trove of media attention for the Kor team.

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Red River College's Aircraft Maintenance Engineer program has been recognized by the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces (DND/CF), for enhancing the career opportunities available to graduates who may be considering a career in the military.

According to the notification that accompanied the recognition, RRC's Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) program has "accelerated the career opportunities for graduates of (the) program who may be considering a career in the Canadian Forces by providing them with advanced standing as an Aviation Systems Technician."

The notification also points out that AME students who may be considering a career in the military are eligible to receive a salary (with benefits) and support to offset tuition and materials if they're enrolled through the Canadian Forces Non-Commissioned Member — Subsidized Education Plan.

"This means that students wishing to join the DND can enroll or be currently enrolled in RRC's AME program, and tuition and related expenses will be paid by the DND," explains Dennis Doersam, Director of RCC's Stevenson Campus. "As well, they will receive a salary and benefits while attending the program. Upon graduating, they receive credit for the training and time spent in the AME program."

Once enlisted, students will receive basic DND training (as well as military-specific technical training), and will start at a salary substantially greater than the minimum enlisted salary. The accreditation provides students with better access to jobs within the military, Doersam says, while the training qualifies them for Civilian AME training certification, should they wish to apply.

Click here to learn more about the Subsidized Education Plan; for more details, contact Master Warrant Officer Paul Lucas (at the Canadian Forces Recruitment Centre in Winnipeg) at paul.lucas@forces.gc.ca or 983-3680 (ext. 246).

Click here for more information about RRC's Aircraft Maintenance Engineer program.