Why startup star Ashif Mawji It’s time to put stays put liver and Hint: Edmonton is onions open for business, back on says James Cumming the menu
NAIT’s best-kept secret hangout 9ways to build your network How to write your twesume, p. 20 CAREERS IN ENGINEERING, RESEARCh AND OpERATIONS
Who are we? We are the world’s largest oilfield services company1. Working globally—often in remote and challenging locations—we invent, design, engineer, and apply technology to help our customers find and produce oil and gas safely.
Who are we looking for? We’re looking for high-energy, motivated individuals who want to begin careers as Field Specialists or Maintenance Technicians. In these positions, years of you’ll apply your technical expertise and troubleshooting skills to ensure quality service delivery. n Do you want a high level of responsibility early and the opportunity 85 to make a real difference on the job? n Are you interested in an unusual career with a sense of adventure? innovation n Do you hold an associate’s degree or diploma in a relevant technical discipline or have equivalent formal military training? >120,000 employees If the answer is yes, apply for a position as a Maintenance >140 nationalities Technician or Field Specialist. countries of operation ~ 85 Apply at careers.slb.com Go to Students and Recent Graduates, Engineering, Research, and Operations. Then select the Maintenance Technician or Field Specialist option to make your application.
What will you be?
careers.slb.com
1Based on Fortune 500 ranking 2011. Copyright © 2013 Schlumberger. All rights reserved. ESSENTIAL TO STUDENT SUCCESS Imperial Oil Foundation Supports NAIT Chemistry on Campus Since 2008, the Imperial Oil Foundation has Chemistry on Campus aims to increase student provided junior and senior high school students awareness of chemistry in science, technology with hands-on learning through NAIT’s Chemistry and society, while promoting careers within on Campus Program Sponsored by the Imperial Oil the fi eld. Young people gain valuable chemistry Foundation. To date, the Program has delivered 200 experience in a cutting-edge learning environment workshops to over 3,400 students. Sessions take that may not be available in their own school labs. place in NAIT’s state-of-the-art chemistry labs.
A LEADING POLYTECHNIC COMMITTED TO STUDENT SUCCESS nait.ca table of contents
63 techlife > contents
on the cover technofile innovate PEOPLE
20 How to Write Your 19 Personal Communication 26 For the Love of the Game 43 Best in Class Twesume Gido and grandson are The Ooks are at the top We present the NAIT brought closer together by of their game. Can their contingent to WorldSkills – Why Ashif Mawji Stays Put 32 shared, decade-spanning conference keep up? including our first-ever 46 Hint: Edmonton is Open careers gold medalist 32 Build an Entrepreneurial for Business, Says James 20 How to Make the Most Ecosystem in Five 46 Ceiling Unlimited Cumming of Social Media in Your Easy Steps The new CEO of the 48 9 Ways to Build Your Job Hunt Startup expert Ashif Mawji Edmonton Chamber of Network Time to learn how to write shows how it’s done Commerce James Cumming a twesume weighs in on the city’s future 51 It’s Time to Put Liver and 40 Blood Hounds Onions Back on the Menu 22 Head Games Edmonton Police Service A NAIT-developed video backs up a vital canine blood CULINAIT 58 NAIT’s Best-Kept Secret game pushes the limits of donation program 51 No Guts, No Glory Hangout the mind Hokanson Chef in Residence 23 Buried Treasures Chris Cosentino encourages A time capsule so fancy, the next generation of chefs it’s almost a shame to bury it to face and embrace cooking with the whole animal 25 Online Support Richelle Skrilec gets online 56 Recipe shoppers – and stores – Chris Cosentino’s ham hock giving back and lentil soup Cover photo By Blaise van Malsen
4 techlifemag.ca 46 43
26 56
alumni featured in this issue departments Dan Bassett, Instrument Kevin Martin, Petroleum Mechanic ’97 Engineering Technology ’87 6 The Latest from 48 ask an Expert Rosario Caputo, Culinary Arts ’05 Gord Matthew, Management ’87, techlifemag.ca The fine art of schmoozing Daniel Costa, Culinary Arts ’05 Finance ’88 7 Contributors 50 Contest Grant Craplewe, Sheet Metal Ashif Mawji, Computer Systems Technology ’92 Sign up for the techlifemag.ca Worker ’98 8 Editor’s Note newsletter for your chance James Cumming, Construction Keven McGhan, Finance ’89 9 Feedback to win Engineering Technology ’81 Corey Meyer, Retail Meatcutting ’96 Kai Dan, Management ’13 Rose Naqvi-Parasynchuk, 11 Connections with 58 Spaces Accounting ’99, Bachelor of Applied the President The best place on campus Sean Donnan, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Mechanic ’12 Business Administration ’03 Construction begins on to watch the world go by – Mathew Petruk, Wireless Systems NAIT’s largest-ever capital eight floors below Bob Dunford, Civil Engineering Engineering Technology ’13 project Technology ’78 61 5 Ways to Get Involved Robert Easton, Management ’82 Colin Polanski, Communication 12 Newsbytes With NAIT Electrician ‘87 Joanne Geisinger, Marketing ’89 Recent news from the 63 Job Description Dan Radovanovic, Machinist ’11 institute Edward Gutsche, Management ‘90 Your commute wouldn’t Jim Ripley, Sheet Metal Bruce Hagstrom, Civil Engineering Mechanic ’81 13 Preview be the same without Technology ’71 An inside look at emerging Bob Dunford Tracey Scarlett, Medical Lawrence Jacobs, Communication innovations Laboratory Technology ’87 65 Acclaim Electrician ’66 Genevieve Simms, Architectural 15 3 Questions Award-winning grads, Brayden Kozak, Culinary Arts ’02 Technology ’12 Leadership tips from staff and friends Blair Lebsack, Cook ’98 the trenches Richelle Skrilec, Management ’94 Shauna Lesick, Animal Health 66 Rewind Fred Thompson, Management ’12 16 Reading Room A treasure chest of memories Technology ’86 Lance Torgerson, Management ’95 An alum reinvigorates and, uh, condoms Tiffany Linke-Boyko, Management Canadian classics ’07 Dan Westgeest, Computer Network Administration ’02, Retail Meatcutting ’05, Culinary Arts ’07
v7.1 2013 5 techlifemag.ca
Between print issues of techlife magazine, we post new stories online at techlifemag.ca. Below, the latest from you’ll find a sample of what’s available. To stay in the know – and regularly receive great content, including recipes and how-to stories – sign up for our e-newsletter at techlifemag.ca/subscribe.htm techlifemag.ca (see p. 50 for our subscription contest).
Badminton’s Best Household Hazard How did Kai Dan get so good with a racquet? Pop goes the restaurant Once, asbestos was to buildings what butter is The story of the most decorated athlete in the Now you eat it, now you don’t. Mithalee Rawat to bread, which is why it may be in your home. history of NAIT. explains the pop-up. If so, we have recommendations. techlifemag.ca/dan-kai-badminton.htm techlifemag.ca/pop-up-restaurants.htm techlifemag.ca/asbestos-in-the-home.htm
Sweet Somethings Never Regret a Reno Move over cupcakes, Amy Nachtigall’s Our guide to helping you get the most from Hot Stuff bringing back the cookie in a big way. the relationship with your contractor. Warming up to the idea of a new furnace? Here’s why, how and a recipe. techlifemag.ca/home-renovations- We know a few things you should know, too. techlifemag.ca/sugared-and-spiced- contractors.htm techlifemag.ca/furnace-replacement.htm cookies.htm p hoto.com tock
Wired for Sound ap hers, iS a ff p hotogr For those about to rock, an alum has launched Retire on Time and on Budget Gardner on the Roof a line of reasonably priced, high-end speakers – Sounds like a tough job? It doesn’t have to be, NAIT and the Enjoy Centre partner to elevate made right in Edmonton. if you follow the right advice. urban agriculture. techlifemag.ca/adsum-audio.htm techlifemag.ca/retirement-planning-tips.htm techlifemag.ca/enjoy-centre-living-roof.htm Photos by NAI T st by Photos
6 techlifemag.ca CONTRIBUTORS
v7.1 2013 As a little girl, Dru Davids sat at the side of her mother’s aerobics class and created fridge masterpieces for everyone. Today, she spends her days as a graphic designer at NAIT and her evenings teaching Zumba classes. An avid cook and food lover, Davids was excited techlife when Chris Cosentino was named NAIT’s 2013 Hokanson people technology innovation Chef in Residence. In addition to designing the feature techlifemag.ca about his visit, she attended a luncheon prepared by editor Cosentino and the culinary students. “The food had heart Sherri Krastel PAGE f 51 and soul,” she says, “and was beautifully presented – managing and online editor Scott Messenger everything I strive to deliver with my design.” associate editor Kristen Vernon art director Derek Lue Linda Hoang thinks it’s amazing her hobby has become designers her job. Before joining NAIT this year as a digital Dru Davids, Trina Koscielnuk, Jennifer Lubrin, Andy Oviatt, Tina Tomljenovic communications specialist, Hoang handled web and copy editor social media for CTV Edmonton. Now she posts to Ruth Grenville NAIT social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, circulation manager Nicole Rose (Marketing ’08) Instagram and Pinterest. She also writes stories for techlife, advertising manager including this issue’s guide to using social media in your Lynn Ryan job hunt. The NAIT Radio and Television grad (class of contributing writers Eliza Barlow, Fiona Bensler, Jennifer Cockrall-King, ’11) has a journalism diploma from MacEwan University Heather Gray, Michael Hingston, Linda Hoang (Radio and PAGE f 20 and has written for several local publications. When not Television ‘11), Ruth Juliebo, Frank Landry, Nancy McGuire tweeting, pinning and so on, Hoang loves food, cats and contributing photographers John Book (Photographic Technology ’87), Leigh exploring Edmonton. Frey (Photographic Technology ’01), Jeanette Janzen (Photographic Technology ’10), Blaise van Malsen, Roth and Ramberg Photography (Photographic Technology ‘87) subscriptions You may not see her byline, but Nicole Rose plays a key Send changes of address to [email protected]. role in techlife – and in nurturing the link between NAIT Sign up for the techlifemag.ca e-newsletter at techlifemag.ca/subscribe.htm. and its 179,000 graduates. As an advancement relations freelance submissions officer, she brings their stories to the editorial team and Send queries to [email protected]. We do not accept pens 5 Ways to connect alumni with the institute. “Once unsolicited manuscripts. you graduate from NAIT,” says Rose, “you’re a member of letters to the editor [email protected] the community for the rest of your life.” She’s one of them: advertising and circulation inquiries Marketing ’07. In her spare time, Rose is an accomplished [email protected] hula hoop dancer. Catch a Rosehip Hoop class on campus PAGE f 61 and elsewhere. Techlife magazine is published twice a year by NAIT Marketing and Communications. Online features are Web Extra published regularly at techlifemag.ca. Opinions expressed Learn a few hula hoop tricks from Nicole Rose at are not necessarily those of NAIT or the editorial team. techlifemag.ca/hula-hoop.htm. Techlife is a proud member of the Alberta Magazine Publishers Association, abiding by the national magazine advertising/editorial guidelines (albertamagazines.com). Roth and Ramberg Photography was established in 1993 after Dale Roth and Michele Ramberg graduated from the NAIT Photographic Technology program in 1987. They formed a business plan one evening over beer and pizza. The plan was simple: work as hard as they could and have a lot of fun doing it – like they did shooting social entrepreneur Richelle Skrilec for this issue of techlife. Over the years, they’ve established an impressive roster of clients including Bechtel, Bell, Calgary Zoo, CN Rail, PAGE f 25 Enbridge, McDonald’s, Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism, Pratt & Whitney, Rona, Syncrude, Transalta and Travel Alberta.
v7.1 2013 7 EDITOR’S NOTE
“the city will soon be known more as a hotbed for startups than a government town or mere gateway to the oil and gas industry.”
new chamber of commerce boss James Cumming This issue looks at business – large and small. believes Edmonton is a great place for business. So does Richelle Skrilec has built a unique home-based entrepreneur Ashif Mawji. And if the two of them have business combining charitable giving with online anything to do with it, the city will soon be known more shopping (p. 25) and, in her role as CEO of Alberta as a hotbed for startups than a government town or Women Entrepreneurs, Tracey Scarlett is working to mere gateway to the oil and gas industry. build economic value and increase the success rate of Take our Mawji is a serial entrepreneur with a keen eye for startups by creating mututally beneficial relationships survey opportunity. He sold watches in Nairobi as a kid, and with big business and government (p. 37). today is the CEO of NPO Zero, providing services to If you’re interested in business leadership, Following each issue of techlife, we survey our non-profits that help them reduce costs. An Edmonton Fountain Tire’s Brent Hesje, Sureway Construction’s readers to make sure we success story, he is committed to helping create more Bruce Hagstrom and Rose Naqvi-Parasynchuk of are delivering what you of the same, working with NAIT’s JR Shaw School of Cameron Homes have spent time in the trenches and want to read. Your feedback Business on a plan to make entrepreneurship training the boardrooms and share their insights and challenges is important to us. Take available to students of all programs across the (p. 15). our short survey and help us make techlife the institute (p. 32). Finally, we can’t talk about the business of building best technology lifestyle From his vantage point in downtown Edmonton, Edmonton without mentioning Bob Dunford. He’s built magazine in the country. Cumming is focused on recruiting skilled labour and a career looking after the city’s roads – keeping us safe, Invest less than 10 minutes helping the city’s entrepreneurs find global markets removing snow and yes, fixing potholes (p. 63). today for a better techlife for their services and products (p. 46). He agrees the tomorrow! city’s post-secondaries have an important role to play Visit techlifemag.ca/ in providing the education to prepare them. Both he and survey.htm. Mawji are determined to build confidence in the city’s future as a go-to place for the enterprise-minded. Sherri Krastel Editor [email protected] an m a lse n Photo by B l ai se v by Photo
8 techlifemag.ca feedback Connect with us through social media
Share your comments with us on social media. We post photos, videos, news and tips from NAIT experts across several social media platforms daily and we want facebook.com/nait twitter.com/nait to hear from you. Use the hashtag #NAIT. Like us and comment on posts Follow, tweet and retweet our links to showcasing student, staff and alumni techlifemag.ca articles, NAIT news, achievements, campus life and photo campus events and more. You can also reach us by email at [email protected] and mail: galleries. Sherri Krastel, Editor, techlife magazine 11762 – 106 St. N.W., Edmonton, AB T5G 2R1
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Built on a promise
we are thrilled! Construction of the largest capital our four guiding promises. We promise to meet the Web Extra project in NAIT’s history is underway. current and emerging needs for polytechnic education See footage of the first official day of construction of It’s going to take about three years to complete the in Alberta; to prepare students for meaningful careers; NAIT’s largest-ever capital five-storey, 51,000-square-metre Centre for Applied to produce an exceptional skilled workforce aligned project at techlifemag.ca/ Technologies. With state-of-the-art classrooms and with industry needs; and to provide an outstanding groundbreaking.htm. simulation labs and a 135-seat lecture theatre, the workplace for our staff. project will be truly transformative for NAIT, Edmonton In short, the centre is absolutely vital to our and Alberta. long-term vision to be the most relevant and responsive This is growth that NAIT – and Alberta – needs. post-secondary institute in Canada and one of the It will allow us to increase enrolment by 50 per cent world’s leading polytechnics. We couldn’t be happier in health, business, engineering technologies, and that the Government of Alberta has chosen to support sustainable building and environmental management this. It has committed $200 million in funding for the programs – areas in which the province needs skilled centre and, this summer, even helped us break ground workers now and into the foreseeable future. What’s for the project (Premier Alison Redford, incidentally, more, the centre will let NAIT build on what it does operated the excavator herself). best: hands-on, practical education. Already, we’re For five decades, NAIT has grown with Alberta. I’m known as experts in teaching using simulation, allowing pleased to say that it looks like much more of the same students to hone real-world skills in safe, controlled in the decades to come. environments. Now we’re taking that a step further. Simulation is the centre’s raison d’être; it will be one of the largest simulation-based education facilities an m a lse n in Canada. NAIT is essential to Alberta. It was created to serve Glenn Feltham, PhD this province. This centre will bring us to a new chapter President and CEO
Photo by bl ai se v by Photo in that relationship by better enabling us to deliver on [email protected]
v7.1 2013 11 newsbytes Construction begins! this august, construction of the Centre for Applied Technologies – the largest capital project in NAIT’s history – officially began with a groundbreaking ceremony on Main Campus. Among attendees were Premier Alison Redford and Thomas Lukaszuk, deputy premier and minister of enterprise and advanced education. Reflecting the scale of the 51,000-square-metre project, Redford broke ground with an excavator, operating it herself. “The reason we’ll be successful in this province is because we continue to build the infrastructure and the capacity to ensure that skilled people will be able to continue to participate in the economy,” she said afterward. “NAIT has always responded to that.” To be completed in 2016, the centre will accommodate 5,000 students in health, business, engineering technologies, and sustainable building and environmental management programs. — Scott Messenger
New provost NAIT in Mexico dr. neil fassina is NAIT’s new provost and vice-president academic. Previously dean of in june, the institute completed its first year of training for maintenance workers at the the JR Shaw School of Business and School of Mulatos gold mine in Sonora, Mexico, for Toronto-based Alamos Gold Inc. Ignacio Garcia, Hospitality and Culinary Arts, Fassina says he a senior account manager with NAIT Corporate and International Training, describes will “champion and represent NAIT with pride, the program as a customized apprenticeship in which 36 heavy equipment technicians, dedication, innovation, energy and spirit.” 20 electricians and 36 millwrights divided their time between their jobs at the mine Along with a PhD in organizational and classes at a newly built, NAIT-designed school in Hermosillo, 220 kilometres west, behaviour and human resources management, staffed by NAIT instructors. “You walk in there and you almost think you’re in a NAIT lab,” Fassina brings a focus on strategy and people says Garcia. to the role, where he’s responsible for leading — S.M. NAIT’s academic mission. Prior to joining the institute in 2011 and becoming provost this May, he was the department head of business administration with the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba. Badminton’s Cheese — Frank Landry best please canada’s best college badminton artisanal cheeses made from scratch players will compete at NAIT this at NAIT are headed into household winter. The Ooks host the 2014 kitchens. This fall, the Retail Meat Store Canadian Collegiate Athletic on Main Campus began selling small Association Badminton National batches of feta, mozzarella, brie and Championship from Feb. 27 to March cottage cheese crafted by first-semester 1 – the fifth time the tournament has Culinary Arts students. A new variety will been held at NAIT since 1987. The be brought into the store every couple championship is expected to draw of weeks, says Allan Roote, the Culinary players from Alberta, B.C., Ontario Arts instructor leading this initiative and and the Maritimes. NAIT earned two a self-described “cheese enthusiast.” ap hers a ff Photogr
gold medals and one silver at the 2012 The store is open to the public. t championship. — F.L. — F.L. Photos by NAI T S by Photos
12 techlifemag.ca preview
mister EFFICIENCY
Ross Taylor reinvents the internal combustion engine.
few of us are truly efficient. Not when compared to Ross Taylor, fuel and even do it better for the foreseeable future. In particular, at least. Besides being a full-time Computer Engineering Technology he believes electrics cost too much to build, and are slow to win over instructor, he’s a farmer, pastor, new grandfather, a self-learner of consumers who “don’t want to be tied to an extension cord” or are mechanical engineering, and the chaser of a dream to invent a machine seeking real sustainability. After all, more than 40 per cent of Alberta’s designed – surprise, surprise – to achieve greater efficiency. electricity comes from coal. “It’s just go, go, go,” he says. “I don’t ever stop until I go to bed.” “Even if we come up with other means of powering things, I think With grants from novaNAIT (which facilitates applied research we’re going to have internal combustion engines for quite a while,” across NAIT) and the School of Information Communication and says Taylor. Engineering Technologies, Taylor’s drive has produced what could prove This winter, NAIT automotive technologists and millwrights will a major advancement for the transportation industry: a prototype for help him test a special gear system he designed. The next step will be to an internal combustion engine roughly 125 per cent more efficient than build and test a full-size engine. In the years to come, when his engine is a current V8 engine. The key to his design is a circular configuration of ready for market, Taylor would like to see it in larger vehicles, including pistons that allows for more energy per stroke with less wear. small aircraft and trains. With electric cars (roughly 300 per cent more efficient) and hybrids To get there, he’d rather partner with a manufacturer than head up (about 35 per cent better) on the rise, the question is, why bother? a company. It’s not because he couldn’t find a way to squeeze it in. From Taylor’s vantage point, the internal combustion engine, a technology Taylor happily sees himself staying behind the scenes. He may be many with roots in the mid-17th century, can achieve the same goal of saving things, but “I’m certainly not an entrepreneur.” — Scott Messenger
v7.1 2013 13 preview
this might just a prototype created by four Bachelor of Technology in Technology Management students may lead to a new lifesaving medical device. It’s an important step in the development of a clip used to close potentially fatal chest wounds, says Kelly Mottet, product support specialist with Innovative Trauma Care, the client for the students’ capstone project. save The students developed the iTClip as the next in Innovative Trauma Care’s product line that already contains the iTClamp 50, a temporary wound-closure device that instantly controls severe bleeding. your life The Edmonton-based company wanted a new product that could be applied with one hand, close various wounds and fit under body armour for use in military situations. The students met each requirement and also included a venting mechanism to clear lungs of excess air once a wound has been sealed. The prototype, a revised version of which is slated for pre-clinical Above, student Alisha Lewis trials this fall, was fabricated at the NAIT Shell Manufacturing Centre on a 3D plastic printer. presents the medical prototype For their efforts, the students tied for first place in the 2013 Capstone Symposium, an event where she helped develop. Bachelor of Technology students showcase their projects. — Frank Landry n chuk su pp l i ed r a sy i - pa qv
a group of students has developed a potential solution to the worldwide problem of silver counterfeiting. Built for novice coin collector Robert Faltin, the Silver Hound is the size of a smartphone and measures electrical conductivity to determine if coins are authentic silver or fakes, many of which originate from China. To use the Silver Hound, one simply holds a coin against a sensor. Results are available in seconds. The prototype was developed in less than eight months as the students’ Bachelor of Technology in Technology Management capstone project, which requires that participants address real industry challenges. This spring, it tied for first place in the BTech Capstone Symposium, NAIT’s annual Quick innovation showdown. After incorporating a company under the name AgMatics, Faltin now hopes to license the Silver
Hound, but first must secure a patent and then work to reduce manufacturing costs to under $100 na of B re n t H esje an d rose ap hers; p hotos a ff Photogr silver t from the current $250. detector — F.L. Photos by NAI T S by Photos
14 techlifemag.ca 3 questions FOLLOW THE LEADER
an internet search on leadership produces pages of book titles on everything from the 21 laws and five levels of leadership and how the best leaders make everyone smarter, to how to take your company from good to great and make extraordinary things happen. We didn’t have to go online, however, for expertise. Rather, we went straight to a few of our alumni and friends who shared their distinct approaches to leadership, along with what keeps them up at night. — Sherri Krastel
Brent Hesje Rose Naqvi-Parasynchuk Bruce Hagstrom Chair of NAIT (Accounting ’99, Bachelor (Civil Engineering Board of of Applied Business Technology ’71) Governors and Administration ’03) Vice-president and CEO of Fountain Tire Vice-president of General Manager, Cameron Homes Sureway Construction Group
How do you Hands-on when it comes to the I’m more a modern-day visionary I’d say I lead by example – for describe your selection and recruitment of our for what we should be doing than a quality work and productivity. leadership team and its development, and detail person. I build the right team I’ve been that guy in the trenches, engaged in developing our three- to get us there. running equipment, surveying, style? to-five year goals, then I get out so I know what it feels like. of the way when we mobilize for operation.
What is one of The old adage that good is the Professionally, growing a Our world is changing so rapidly your biggest enemy of best is always looming. family-owned company without that it puts new technical demands challenges as For big decisions it is a challenge compromising on family values. on every person regardless to make the time and space to Personally, trying to be a leader of market sector. Add these a leader? choose the best, rather than just and a mother to six girls who all challenges to the substantial the good, option. live at home. growth that our company, like so many others, has had in personnel, and it becomes challenging to find the time to mentor our personnel to the extent that I would prefer.
How do you With a crystal-clear explanation It’s very difficult. I look to my Communicating bad news is tough communicate of the truth. mentors – my husband and my for me. I put myself in the person’s with employees father – for guidance and try to be shoes and ask, “How would I want fair and honest. I add compassion. this to be addressed?” and I go in the face of from there. bad news?
v7.1 2013 15 Reading Room
margaret atwood. Rawi Hage. The Hockey Sweater. These are just some of the classic Canadian authors Cover Story and books published by House of Anansi over the years. But when the Toronto press decided to re-issue these and other favourite titles from its back catalogue – Genevieve Simms makes her mark a series launched to mark its 45th anniversary in 2012 – the person they turned to for a set of new covers was on Canadian literature. architectural technologist Genevieve Simms. Simms (Architectural Technology ’12) is an Edmonton-based illustrator whose clients include Maclean’s and The Globe and Mail. She also works full- time for the engineering and architectural firm Dialog. After catching the eye of art director Brian Morgan, Simms was recruited by him to work on Anansi’s new series, called the A-List. The goal of the A-List is to turn what’s old new again and to make these beloved titles available and accessible to modern readers. As such, Simms’s job was to provide a set of covers that were fresh and cohesive, while retaining the books’ original charms. “This is probably the most noteworthy thing I’ve done,” she says of her portfolio to date. Originally, Simms was to illustrate five of the 10 covers, but before long, Morgan says, “The Anansi folks had fallen in love with Genevieve.” She ended up doing nine covers in total: from a black-and-white sketch (for Graeme Gibson’s 1969 novel Five Legs), to a soft, surreal portrait (for Al Purdy’s 1973 collection Poems for All the Annettes), to a hypnotic wallpaper pattern (for Gil Adamson’s 2007 novel The Outlander). Simms describes the overall aesthetic as “pretty lo-fi…. I was going for a really hand-done look.” Morgan was impressed by Simms’s overall range as an artist. “I learned just how many tones she has: every cover is its own thing [and] has its own heart,” he says. So while some of the designs, like the one for Roch Carrier’s The Hockey Sweater and Other Stories, were straightforward (“My little twist was that it was hanging on a clothesline,” Simms says), others were more demanding and even made direct use of her skills as a technologist. For example, she knew the illustration for Dennis Lee’s Civil Elegies and Other Poems would feature Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square. Simms had to draw dozens of versions of the iconic landmark, from different angles and using different techniques, before she got it right. Simms credits her NAIT training for making her feel comfortable enough to do a simple drawing of a building in the first place. Clarity and simplicity, she says, are lessons that she hopes to apply to her future illustration work, too. ed su pp l i ed an Ma lse n ; book covers “It’s totally fine to break it down to its parts and be as simple as you can about it,” says Simms. “Show it clearly. Communicate it.”
— Michael Hingston B l ai se v by Photo
16 techlifemag.ca Looking for work? NAIT students and alumni • tailor your job search • connect with employers on campus • access career search information and tips GOOD nait.ca/studentemployment Looking for workers? Online job postings Reach thousands of great candidates by posting your positions online at no charge. wOrk! Any full-time, part-time, summer or contract positions related to the programs offered at NAIT are welcome. NAIT: WHERE EMPLOYERS nait.ca/employerservices AND PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYEES COME TOGETHER
TRADES TO DEGREES A GROUNDBREAKING LEARNING PATHWAY ESPECIALLY FOR TRADES PROFESSIONALS
NAIT’s innovative Trades to Degrees pathway enables Learn more: nait.ca/tradestodegrees qualified trades professionals to move into the third year of the Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Build your competencies with courses in project management, supervision and entrepreneurship. Flexible learning options ensure you can achieve success, your way.
v7.1 2013 17 I (WE) BUILT THIS
18 techlifemag.ca TECHNOFILE Personal
Because of NAIT, Gido and grandson are closer than ever.
by applying to nait’s first offering of the Wireless Systems Engineering Technology lawrence jacobs (WSET) program, Mathew Petruk was making a new connection with his grandfather, mathew petruk Lawrence Jacobs. In 1966, Jacobs graduated from the first Communication Electrician Communication Electrician ’66 program, making both men pioneers in a field that has been the backbone of industry Wireless Systems Engineering Technology ’13 for generations. During his 35-year career with Edmonton Telephones (acquired by Telus in 1995 Four-year apprenticeship when Jacobs retired), Jacobs helped shift Edmonton’s telephones from analogue Two-year diploma to digital technology, which enabled the evolution to wireless. “It is marvellous Enrolled to become accredited to work as a the changes that have taken place,” says Jacobs. “We basically had to stick to the telephone installer telephone industry. Now you can work anywhere.” Enrolled to learn how cellphones and other WSET chair Colin Polanski (Communication Electrician ’87) sees consumer devices work demand for mobile technology as the main reason for that change. Today, wireless Graduated at 25 years old communications is a multi-billion dollar industry that supports virtually every sector. Graduated at 21 years old In any form, communications technology has always connected us. In Petruk and Jacobs’s case, it has created a more personal connection. “I’ve always hung around Starting wage: $2.50/hour Gido and we are close, but our careers have brought us closer,” says Petruk. Wages vary from $29-$40/hour Here, we compare parallel career paths separated by nearly five decades. Worked as a telephone installer for 12 years then — Heather Gray moved into management Gained field experience during summers spent working with communication technicians at Atco an m a lse n
hoto by bl ai se v by p hoto Lawrence Jacobs and Mathew Petruk v7.1 2013 19
TECHNOFILE
9:33 AM HELP WANTED
[ HOW TO ] twesumes? twitterviews? These terms may sound strange but they’re Make the most of part of the changing job-search landscape. Tweeting 140-character blurbs, updating your LinkedIn profile and ensuring Facebook photos are private are becoming effective ways to help land a job. According to a 2012 Jobvite survey, 89 per cent of recruiters say they have made a hire through LinkedIn, while 86 per cent of recruiters say they are likely to social look at social media profiles. “Make sure you’re there in the space and putting out some really good news about who you are,” says JR Shaw School of Business tt
instructor Ray Bilodeau, who teaches a social media marketing class v ia that has helped a number of students gain job leads, interviews and media even careers through social media. “Be discoverable.” We’ve got tips on how to do that when it comes to three major dy O A n dy t i o n by in your job hunt social media platforms.
— Linda Hoang a Illustr
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Twitter Hi def | Twesume Ensure your bio and profile picture are professional and appropriate for the industry you’re interested in. Twesumes are simple A profile picture in your bathing suit probably isn’t suitable if you’re applying for an office job. resumés that show who Include a link to your website, blog or LinkedIn profile in your bio. you are and highlight your qualifications in 140 “Demonstrate that you’re a subject-matter expert,” Bilodeau says. Show you’re interested in what’s characters. Include the happening in the industry by following and tweeting other subject-matter experts and sharing their #twesume hashtag and content, as well as links to industry-related articles. tweet twesumes more Build a network with people in your city. For example, follow the #yeg hashtag to see what’s happening than once, with slight in Edmonton and find people to follow and foster connections with. changes or updates each time, to get noticed. Follow companies and employees of companies you want to work for. “Tweet to them, show you’re interested in their company,” says NAIT Bachelor of Business Administration student Jacqueline Wong, who landed a phone interview with RBC after catching their attention through her blog and Twitter. “I’m #Twesume: Linda Hoang sure a lot of people tweet to certain companies so if you ask something different, hopefully they’ll tweet #communications back.” Wong first tweeted links to her blog to RBC and never got a response. When she took a different & #socialmedia approach and asked whether their executives were on Twitter, she received a response. professional. Tech savvy, Have a bad day? Keep it to yourself. Since posts can be retweeted and seen by thousands, public community-minded. complaints “can be an impediment to your success,” Bilodeau says. Find out more: http:// www.linkedin.com/in/ hoanglinda #yeg LinkedIn “Make sure your experience is aligned with what industry is looking for,” Bilodeau says. Fill out the Background, Experience and Skills & Expertise sections and tailor descriptions to the industry you’re interested in. Update your profile regularly. New updates appear in the LinkedIn feeds of those you’re connected with, so updating your profile keeps you top of mind with potential employers. Keep your connections professional. “You don’t want all your contacts to be friends. You want to be contacting people who can help further your career,” says NAIT Bachelor of Business Administration Hi def | Twitterview student Melissa Zimmer, who was hired after applying for a summer job she discovered through LinkedIn. Twitterviews are short- Join industry-related groups and watch for job postings from those groups. form interviews conducted Endorse others for their skills and ask for recommendations. publicly on Twitter. Job seekers undergoing Twitterviews are expected to answer questions in 140 characters. “Twesumes and Twitterviews allow Facebook companies to discover and engage with individuals Lean towards Twitter and LinkedIn for job leads. Be aware of what material from Facebook may be publicly online. Those companies searchable because this could affect how hirable you are. can’t find you if you’re not Stay on top of Facebook privacy settings. “Lock them down,” Bilodeau says. “Make it as private as there,” Bilodeau says. possible.” Keep content clean because even privacy settings don’t guarantee something can’t be taken and shared publicly. Like the Facebook pages of companies you’re interested in to get the most up-to-date information and then mention it during interviews.
v7.1 2013 21 TECHNOFILE
[ gadgets ] Head Games Better living through mind-controlled video games
this spring, a group of Digital Media and IT students helped build and augmented reality that have transformed the industry. “We’re what could be the most brain-draining video game ever to come out teaching students how to build a game but also how to think beyond and of NAIT. Project Vulcan, a prototype built under the guidance of game bring in all this other hardware.” design instructor Armand Cadieux and game programming instructor Somewhat inadvertently, however, Project Vulcan has tapped into John Winski, is set aboard a space station. The concept alone is a another school of thought emerging around video games. “Games can mindbender: you’re a robot trying to escape by embodying a series of teach us stuff,” says Winski. He means more than facts and figures. If stronger robots. actions in a virtual world can affect behaviours in the real one, Project The real trip, however, lies in the direction the game pushes Vulcan could be said to teach focus. “You’ve got to concentrate on the industry. Players don’t take over other robots using a handheld just one thing,” says Winski. In an age in which multi-tasking and the controller; they use their thoughts (hence the nod to Star Trek’s “Vulcan Internet have divided our attentions, “It’s tricky.” mind meld”), read by a brain-scanning headset and converted by the Cadieux believes the game hints at a kind of rehabilitation, a students’ software into actions onscreen. role NAIT games have already played with patients at the Glenrose The project originated as a look into the potential applications of Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton. Indeed, a few minutes of play can the headgear – a relatively new, off-the-shelf technology that is seeing leave a newbie (or this writer, at least) feeling physically exhausted, increased use in video games, but rarely in the role-playing variety, as if having exercised a weakened muscle. The impact this gaming which includes Project Vulcan. Evidently, Cadieux and Winski take that development may have on mental health remains to be seen but there’s as an invitation to push the limits. “How we play games has dramatically no reason to think it will be insignificant. “Games push the boundaries changed in the last couple years,” says Cadieux. To him, brain sensors so much,” says Cadieux. are the logical next step following the touch screens, motion sensors — Scott Messenger an m a lse n
22 techlifemag.ca bl ai se v by p hotos TECHNOFILE
physical and digital items, including memories and well wishes to celebrate NAIT’s 50th anniversary, have been enclosed in a time capsule Buried to be opened 50 years from now. “I’m hoping people understand how proud we are of what we have collectively built and how central NAIT has become to the welfare of Alberta and its people,” says Dr. Glenn Feltham, the institute’s president and CEO. To make sure the items treasures are well preserved, Jim Ripley (Sheet Metal Mechanic ’81), chair of the Sheet Metal Worker program, designed the stainless steel chest featured below. — Fiona Bensler
Materials: 16-gauge To be unearthed: In NAIT’s Built by: Sheet Metal Worker Sealed: With automotive (1.5-millimetre or 1/16- 100th anniversary year staff at Patricia Campus panel adhesive because inch) stainless steel, for of its ability to keep durability and strength out moisture and environmental elements and because it is easily unsealed by heating
1.2 m Engraved by: Behrends Bronze (the NAIT@50 logo is on the lid and the institute’s coat of arms 0.6 m is on the front)
Weight: Nine kilograms
Hours to build: Eight
0.6 m Turn to p. 66 to find out what turned up in our 1987 0.9 m time capsule inside the • A limited-edition Ookpik beer • Memory notes from alumni, • Predictions by students and • A menu from The Nest, including Edward Gutsche staff about what the institute time capsule NAIT’s campus bar and grill (Management ’90), a time and city will look like in 50 years capsule committee volunteer • A new Ooks jersey • More than 100 other items who passed away before the • We are NAIT@50 capsule was sealed commemorative book v7.1 2013 23 TO H E ALTH
NAIT DELIVERS HEALTH AND CARE TOGETHER. Enrol today at nait.ca/mri Next intake January 2014 NAIT’s Continuing Education 2nd discipline MRI program is delivered online, making it the most fl exible MRI training in Canada. The program is open to health care professionals with a previous designation in medical radiology, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy, ultrasound and combined laboratory and x-ray. A LEADING POLYTECHNIC Students can work as they study, with seven online courses and fi nishing with a 16-week COMMITTED TO clinical placement to perfect their skills. Upon successful completion of the program, STUDENT SUCCESS students are then eligible to write the CAMRT national MRI Certifi cation exam.
SHOW YOUR NAIT PRIDE Retail Services’ wide assortment of NAIT- imprinted products gives you many ways to keep the pride alive. From accessories to comfy leisure wear, we’ve got a selection that will delight.
We make shopping easy: Online: onlinestore.nait.ca Phone: 780.491.3104 Email: [email protected] Visit the NAIT Bookstore: Room X114, 11762 106 Street, Edmonton, AB
A LEADING POLYTECHNIC COMMITTED TO STUDENT SUCCESS
24 techlifemag.ca TECHNOFILE
Online support Richelle Skrilec helps philanthropists give while getting what they want.
as the mother of two teenaged girls, Richelle Skrilec was very familiar with traditional methods used to raise money for schools and sports teams. Tired of the amount of time and energy involved, she believed there could be a better way to give. Her answer: shopandshare.ca, which combines charitable giving with online shopping. In 2009, helped by a part-time programmer and part-time communications specialist, Skrilec (Management ’94) launched shopandshare.ca. Whether booking a trip through Expedia or buying a barbecue through Home Depot – two of the 150 participating retailers – customers can make their purchases through Skrilec’s site and support the non-profit or charity of their choice at no extra cost. The retailer, which decides its level of support, then sends that amount to shopandshare.ca, which donates half to the non-profit (the other half helps pay staff and run the site). Retailers benefit from joining the site because it’s another marketing tool, an opportunity for sales and for enabling corporate social responsibility. Skrilec, a seasoned entrepreneur and former bookkeeper who works from her Calgary-area home office, currently has 2,200 registered shoppers and has generated approximately $3,000 for the more than 300 charities. She plans to expand to include gasoline and grocery gift cards, with 3,000 charities and non-profits involved this year, and 10,000 by the end of 2014. This would allow for more of her favourite part of the business: writing the donation cheques. “I’m so amazed at the great work people are doing in their own communities. That is such a motivator to be able to help them continue,” Skrilec says. oth an d Ra mberg oth — Fiona Bensler Photo by R by Photo
v7.1 2013 25 INNOVATE
For the love of the game The venerated Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference is changing, leaving some to wonder if it’s time for a shakeup.
Story By n nearly 50 years of competition, the Ooks have For some students, that kind of success is in scott messenger never been so good. So good, in fact, that it’s jeopardy. The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference Photos by easy to overlook the fact that the timing of their (ACAC), which hosts the Ooks, has suffered a setback Blaise van Malsen I success isn’t ideal. with the loss of two of its biggest members. In 2012, it Last season was a return to the glory days of the lost co-founder Mount Royal University to the Canada mid-1980s, when the men’s hockey team – hair worn West universities athletic association. MacEwan parted down the centre, moustaches without irony – University follows in part in 2014. Both losses seriously dominated provincially and nationally and held their diminish the kind of competition that strengthens own against the University of Alberta Golden Bears in character, draws crowds, builds campus community and exhibition play. Actually, 2012-13 was better than that. develops exceptional student athletes. Men’s hockey ended its 17-year championship drought, Sherri Bowles, forward with the women’s hockey but, unlike the past, when only their soccer counterparts team, is one of these. For helping to lead the 2012-13 kept pace, it’s not so lonely at the top anymore. After squad to its first ACAC gold-medal, the fourth-year 11 of NAIT’s 12 teams advanced to post-season, they business student was heaped with accolades: the title returned with 12 provincial and seven national medals of ACAC female hockey player of the year; a place in (more than half the haul was gold) in hockey, soccer, the season’s record books for 16 goals in 18 games; basketball, volleyball and badminton – most of them and NAIT’s award for female athlete of the year. Not achieved by the women. bad for a 23-year-old from tiny Elkhorn, Manitoba who featured Alumni Collectively, the Ooks may have finally found their credits the Ooks for not just on-ice improvements, Kai Dan, Management ’13 wings, thanks to a matured athletics program that but for easing the transition to independent Kevin Martin, Petroleum embraces every sport and both genders and gives adulthood, rife with responsibility and bill- Engineering Technology ’87, each of its student athletes an equal opportunity to paying. “Coming here was one of the best Top 50 Alumnus fly, so to speak. decisions I made,” says Bowles.
26 techlifemag.ca For the love For Sherri Bowles, participating in ACAC athletics has contributed to her personal of the game development on and off the ice.
v7.1 2013 27 INNOVATE
“Coming here was one of the best decisions I made.” 15 – Sherri Bowles Left Wing Forward, Ooks women’s hockey
S h e r r i B o w tatsl e s eason S The only reason that is still the He credits NAIT as one of those yet, at the 2012-13 Regular S 18 16 case is because her sport narrowly same time, worries about just how dominant NAIT ames played G avoided elimination from the ACAC. might become. Goals 27 The women are guaranteed to skate When Linda Henderson took over as the institute’s ssists 11 A 16 at NAIT for the next two years only director of athletics in 2008, she convinced senior Points 3 because MacEwan’s hockey teams administration to fund six full-time coaches in men’s Penalty minutes 2 didn’t make the Canada West cut, and women’s basketball, volleyball and hockey. She Power-play goals 4 Short-handed goals saving the women’s league from wanted to elevate the program at every level: more Game-winning goals dwindling from four teams to three championships, more scholarships, better facilities, and, under conference rules, folding. stronger student attraction, more community Until MacEwan’s bid to move is successful – possibly as involvement and better student athlete grades. “I early as 2016-17 – the women compete on borrowed time. think we can be leaders in all of those things,” says “I try not to think about it because it just makes me Henderson today. sad,” says Bowles, forcing a weak smile. Her program is a work in progress but, along Now, just as NAIT hopes to embark on a new the way, it produced a handful of teams worthy of golden age of student athletics, the conference it helped Mount Royal, a perennial powerhouse. Now, in most found may have to revise its game plan, even if that sports, NAIT must look to SAIT and Red Deer College means ceasing to exist as we know it. for its rivalries. “I’m not sure in the long run how healthy that is for “we’re an example of an organization that’s facing the competitive balance and the success of the league,” challenges because of the period of transition that we’re says Day. In his view, funding differences create an in now,” says Robert Day, ACAC general manager. His uneven playing field, turning the issue into a resources attempt to see the good in the departures of Mount game. Based on size alone, NAIT has a natural advantage. Royal and MacEwan, schools that had teams in almost “How can other programs keep up?” all ACAC sports, hardly counters his disappointment. “It provides opportunity for other members to come recent successes aside, NAIT hasn’t outgrown the forward, but we pay a huge price for that opportunity.” conference. Bowles’s squad may have pounded SAIT Web Extra The conference has always been amorphous by one night 7-0, but they’d take a 9-3 loss to Red Deer Visit techlifemag.ca/ nature, expanding, contracting and shifting with changes (who put up a respectable fight in the provincial finals) ooks-2012-13.htm for the in the provincial post-secondary community it serves. a week later. Other times, wins against cellar-dwelling highlights of the 2012-13 record-breaking season. Since its birth as the Western Inter-College teams highlighted weaknesses: “Sometimes you just fall Conference in 1964 – essentially a basketball league down to their level,” says Bowles. “You’re expected to with a handful of exhibition sports for Alberta’s five main beat them 10-nothing but you win 2-1.” colleges of the day, including NAIT – it has seen schools Even if they can’t match NAIT’s full-time coaching come and go, and come again, as budgets and student initiative, other conference members remain, for now, interest dictated. Today, 17 schools, with student bodies fully capable of competing. In their first year in the ranging from a few hundred full-timers to well over league, the Olds College Broncos took the women’s 10,000, compete in nine sports (no school competes basketball title (then bronze at nationals). Over the
in every sport), making the ACAC one of Canada’s last 20 years, Red Deer has been the team to beat in AP HERS A FF P HOTOGR largest – and, on the whole, healthiest – conferences, men’s volleyball. And should more schools join futsal, after those in Ontario and Quebec. But Day believes the a kind of indoor soccer, they’ll have Keyano College recent changes are different. “From your stronger, larger to contend with, league leaders since the sport’s
members comes your strength as an organization.” inception two years back. NAI T ST by Photos
28 techlifemag.ca Top of their game NAIT has had a role in developing some of the Canada’s best athletes. Here’s a look.
Shannon KAi SZABADOS DAN
After joining NAIT’s Personal Fitness Trainer program in 2011, Team Kai Dan’s time growing up away from home in Chinese “badminton” Canada’s Shannon Szabados signed on as the men’s hockey starting schools paid off. After he came to Canada in 2007, the Management goaltender. Last year, she helped the team take gold and secured a spot grad (class of ’13) went on to become NAIT’s most decorated athlete, in the record books with the lowest goals-against average in conference with five national titles in men’s singles badminton. Read more at history. Read more at techlifemag.ca/shannon-szabados.htm. techlifemag.ca/dan-kai-badminton.htm.
kevin 1984-85 Ooks MEn’s martin Hockey
Even if it would have been a good back-up plan in Alberta, Top 50 alum The pinnacle of NAIT’s 1980s hockey dynasty came with this men’s squad, Kevin Martin never did need his Petroleum Engineering Technology which achieved the near impossible: a perfect season. In fact, the winning diploma (class of ’87). Instead, he went on to become one of the world’s streak stretched from the previous season and through the 1984-85 top curlers, thanks in large part to NAIT coach Jules Owchar. Read more provincial and national playoffs (which they won, of course), ending at 51 at techlifemag.ca/kevin-martin-jules-owchar.htm. consecutive wins and earning them, in 2012, a spot in the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame. Read more at techlifemag.ca/ooks-hockey-perfect-season.htm.
That this deprives NAIT of trophies is actually a volleyball and soccer – which is why Day welcomes good thing. According to Day, one member’s dominance another possibility for the conference: amalgamate with in a sport can dissuade the entry of new members Canada West to create a national, tiered conference, worried they can’t compete, leaving the conference allowing schools to compete at the level that suits them. vulnerable to the cuts now threatening hockey and NAIT could regularly play the U of A, or rekindle its leaving student athletes with a numbing sense of rivalry with Mount Royal. But Canadian Interuniversity déjà vu. (“It does suck when you’re playing the same Sport (Canada West’s parent organization) may not be team over and over again,” says Bowles, “but I’d rather interested in what Day sees as the removal of an artificial play the same team than not play at all.”) Right now, barrier. In his view, there’s a class separation between the the ACAC – which hosts well-subscribed basketball, conferences. A merger might eliminate that, and enhance volleyball and soccer leagues – could follow the recent athlete, and therefore student, development. exits with a growth spurt, as both Ambrose University “We wouldn’t worry about that ivory tower opinion College and St. Mary’s University College consider that says you could never play in Canada West because expanding their sports programs. your students are technical students and they’re Likely, both would take time to develop into different from university students,” says Day. “I’m a PhD well-rounded competitors – particularly in basketball, and, frankly, I think that’s a lot of BS.”
v7.1 2013 29 INNOVATE
that same kind of student development is the reason there was real interest (even if none had done so by Dr. Glenn Feltham, NAIT president and CEO, defends this summer) from schools to take advantage of ACAC the athletics program. When questioned whether the seed money to help cover the costs of entering women’s school will continue to fund its full-time coaching hockey, giving her hope. program despite recent government budget cuts, he That allows her and her staff to focus on the real doesn’t hesitate with a yes. business of post-secondary athletics. At this level “I don’t think this investment is a luxury,” says Feltham. of sport, winning is far from everything; success for “While we’re in a time of constraint and we have to be student athletes is holistic. “You want them to go away very careful of how we spend our dollars, our athletics from this experience and think fondly of what they investment is core to that broader student experience…. learned about leadership and time management and Competition can bring out the best in our student collaboration – and also to have an education that will athletes and be an enormous sense of pride for all of our financially support them.” students and staff.” Bowles, whose focus is human resources, is Other schools are apparently of the same mind. comfortable knowing that she’s hedging her bets on Since the cuts, one has withdrawn teams, says a future in hockey with a degree that comes with Henderson, but none of the remaining teams, in her a nearly 90 per cent employment rate. Should her view, are soon likely to depart. What’s more, she felt hope to land a spot in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League not work out, she isn’t worried. “I can’t just Web Extra count on hockey,” she says. How did Linda Henderson In the meantime, though, she’s going to give it her reinvent NAIT’s athletics program? Visit techlifemag. all. Three months from the start of her fourth season ca/linda-henderson-ooks. with the Ooks, on the sweltering summer day of our htm to find out. interview, she’d rather be in skates. “I’ve been ready to play for the past month,” she says. In fact, she’s become so attached to the Ooks, and to NAIT, that she’s wondering how to tack on another year of school to make the most of the five-year limit in college and university athletics. For all she has learned in these three years about the game, and for what the game has taught her about herself, she can’t imagine having to give it all up any sooner than necessary. Linda Henderson, director “I’ll probably be here five years,” she says. “And those of Athletics and Recreation will be the best five years I’ve ever experienced.”
in his new role as CEO of Canadian Interuniversity Sport, the country’s governing body for university athletics, Pierre Lafontaine has, in essence, a solitary objective: “I need to make the experience of the student athletes in the university system magical.” First, though, he needs to get the house in order, which to him means creating better national championship events, improving the student athlete support system and improving relationships with his member leagues, Canada West included. It also means reaching out to the college system – to a point. For the foreseeable future, Lafontaine doesn’t see combining the collegiate and university systems into a national tiered conference as being part of the magic making. “I’m not sure I like the word amalgamation,” he says. “I’m not sure it’s even on the table.” But he’d still like to build a relationship that may not have existed in the past. He
tion a l believes there are synergies to be realized with collegiate conferences and best practices to be exchanged. In the end, simple communication might be how the organizations achieve a common goal. “How do we use sport and university infrastructure to support p ers ective he T he n a these world-class people who will become tomorrow’s leaders?” asks Lafontaine.
30 techlifemag.ca v7.1 2013 31 INNOVATE cover story
Story by Scott Messenger Photos by Blaise Van Malsen illustrations by Jennifer Lubrin
featured Alumni Tiffany Linke-Boyko, Management ’07 Ashif Mawji, Computer Systems Technology ’92, Top 50 Alumnus Tracey Scarlett, Medical Laboratory Technology ’87, Top 50 Alumna Fred Thompson, Management ’12
Build an entrepreneurial Ecosystem in five easy steps
OK, maybe this isn’t so easy. But serial startup builder Ashif Mawji has set a shining example. Now it’s up to the rest of Edmonton’s new venture community to follow his lead.
32 techlifemag.ca Build an entrepreneurial Ecosystem in five easy steps
Ashif Maji at Startup Edmonton, a non-profit that he helps finance and where he serves as a mentor.
v7.1 2013 33 INNOVATE • Cover story
shif mawji’s parents don’t really understand businesses – would surprise his family, its location might what he does for a living. It’s not because they surprise the rest of us. After growing up in Kenya and Adon’t care. On the contrary: his dad clipped all travelling the world for work, Mawji adamantly defends the newspaper articles his son turned up in over the Edmonton as his business base. In his view, the capital years. “But he still didn’t know what I did,” says Mawji, city, perhaps too long thought of as a government town between sips of chocolaty frappuccino shortly after 9 or gateway to Alberta’s oil and gas industry, is a startup a.m. one recent, chilly summer morning. hotspot that has all the makings of a tech-biz mecca That’s because Mawji (Computer Systems like the San Francisco Bay area. It might not be as balmy, Technology ’92) is an entrepreneur – a profession made but the solution to that is simple. “We’ve got an airport,” slightly more nebulous by the fact that, at just 41, he he says. already qualifies as a serial entrepreneur. He only stays These days, the city has more than an airport that with something until he’s satisfied with the results makes it great for embryonic enterprises. For anyone and ready to move on, which adds to mom and dad’s looking to make the leap from armchair entrepreneur confusion. As of this year, Mawji is on his third business, to the real deal, now is the time to capitalize. Not only is NPO Zero, which provides accounting, marketing and Mawji proof it can be done, but he’s actively supporting HR services to not-for-profit outfits, allowing them to new resources to create new local success stories. trim overhead and operate more efficiently. He wouldn’t For those who say gaps remain in the support system – have struggled to bootstrap this one. Upside Software, gaps that might be preventing one generation from his previous contract management venture of more than enthusiastically encouraging the next to follow a decade, sold for somewhere in the neighbourhood of through on a revenue-generating, job-creating, tax- $30 million. He was the majority shareholder. base-building idea – you’re right. But, by the looks If the true nature of Mawji’s calling – the starting of things, we’re getting there, learning to build an and building of businesses as well as operating those ideal entrepreneurial ecosystem, one step at a time.
Step 1 learn to act on opportunities
nothing begins without a need. That need, and how it Nothing has changed. Mawji still makes is satisfied, is the bedrock of a successful startup. “A lot opportunities look like money in the bank. Upside of times it will come right in front of you,” says Mawji. Software came about in 2000 when, in dealings with “Unless you’re taught how to capitalize on it, you might his previous company, an IT consultancy, he recognized just let it go.” how he could save corporations millions by managing Mawji – who blinks so rarely during conversation their contracts. NPO Zero arose from observations as that you may believe it to be the skill that keeps him a non-profit board member over the years (for NAIT from missing opportunities – doesn’t miss opportunities. from 2004-10, for example, and, more recently, for the As a kid, he’d sell watches on consignment at weekend Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation and Kids Cottage). tradeshows in Nairobi. A booth cost 100 shillings, about “I found that NGOs were very passionate and $10, and whatever didn’t sell went back to his supplier. wanted desperately to do the right thing. The issue As a sales manager for Honda, his dad travelled. Young was they didn’t have enough money to hire anyone for Mawji tagged along, picking up Commodore 64s in marketing, for example.” He could provide that, making London and selling them in Kenya, where computers a business of enabling greater good and “leaving the were a hot commodity. This was all born of need – world in a better place than I found it.” mostly his own. Along the way, he has applied that philosophy to the “‘You can have anything you want,’” Mawji recalls his business community, taking advantage of the chance to parents saying, “‘but you have to pay for it.’ So I looked guide other Edmonton startups from idea to income. around to see what other people want.”
34 techlifemag.ca Step 2 build the infrastructure the mercer building, in downtown Edmonton’s heritage will have grown and be much sturdier,” says chief warehouse district, is a fine bit of infrastructure. Built in operating officer Tiffany Linke-Boyko (Management ’07). 1911 to house merchant John Mercer’s inventory of liquor She believes nascent business has been overlooked, and cigars, the building is bright and open, all exposed despite the fact that it grows to provide about half of beams and distressed brick, shrunken floorboards, and Canada’s employment, roughly 30 per cent of its GDP naked plumbing and ductwork. For the entrepreneurial and about 25 per cent of its exports. community, it’s made finer by being home to Startup The contribution could be bigger still, she figures. Edmonton, a non-profit that Mawji helps finance and “Who knows where the next Google” – (roughly 45,000 where he serves as a mentor. full-time employees, market cap around $300 billion) – At any given hour, there are a handful of new “will come from.” In her view, creating more companies business owners here, working to turn startups boosts the odds that it might come from here. (in everything from apps to media to custom boots) It’s not out of the question. Mawji’s previous company, into self-sustaining, profitable ventures. To help them, Upside, is no Google but it was recognized as a global Startup Edmonton keeps rent affordable and, in addition leader in contract management. “We were ranked to various business development programs, provides number 1,” he says. “It was unheard of for a company newbies with a community to keep them focused. our size. And we did that all from here.” And without the Then, basically, it tries to move them out to make help of an organization like Startup Edmonton. This time, room for the next client. “We want to see an increase in for NPO Zero, he has desk space in a corner just off the entrepreneurs, so that in the end the startup community communal kitchen and awash in natural light.
On entrepreneurism
“Personally, I think Edmonton is “Some [students] tell me ‘One “[In] Alberta, we have great ideas. “If we can create the baseline more aware [today] of the need thing I’ve learned is that I never We know where we want to capacity, students leave our for diversification. We are very oil want to start a business.’ Probably, go, but we’re afraid. That’s the institution and start new ventures, and gas – we all know it.” some of them shouldn’t and, problem. We’re not risk takers. which creates a broader interest probably, I’ve done my duty.” We’re conservative.” in the launch of new ventures, – Tiffany Linke-Boyko which in turn puts the interest Chief Operating Office – Jay Krysler – Ashif Mawji back into our students. That Startup Edmonton Instructor President and CEO becomes a virtuous circle.” JR Shaw School of Business NPO Zero – Dr. Neil Fassina Provost and VP Academic NAIT
v7.1 2013 35 INNOVATE • Cover story
Step 3 change the education system
“when’s the last time you heard a parent say to their recognized and much more common career path. son or daughter, ‘I’d like you to be an entrepreneur’?” One reason this may not have happened already, says Mawji. “You hear, ‘I’d like you to be a doctor or teacher and perhaps why parents have been worried about or engineer or whatever.’ Is it such a bad thing to be an seemingly wayward but actually enterprising children, entrepreneur? It isn’t. There’s no education around it.” is that the path from school to startup isn’t tracked, Dr. Neil Fassina, provost and vice-president says Jay Krysler, JR Shaw School of Business instructor academic, is working to change that at NAIT. “We have of entrepreneurship. How many of Alberta’s post- an opportunity to build entrepreneurial capacity unlike secondary grads create businesses? How many succeed? any other support unit in northern Alberta,” he says. Without the stats, perhaps the best questions to start This means actively encouraging students to consider with are qualitative rather than quantitative. What would the profession, and making them familiar with the entire be the impact of formal training? How would it affect cycle : “We think about that serial entrepreneur who the economy? starts, succeeds, exits, restarts, succeeds, exits.” This is For now, the answer is an educated “Let’s see.” a craft, says Fassina, and it deserves a formal education. Risk, after all, can be calculated. “You want to encourage The proposed Entrepreneurship and New Venture people to start and then see where that leads them,” Institute – which Mawji and other local entrepreneurs says Krysler. As Mawji might agree, they don’t all are helping to shape – would turn the startup into a need to be doctors and lawyers and such.
The $5 Challenge
As part of an entrepreneurship course, JR Shaw School of Business instructor Jay Krysler asks his students to turn a $5 loan into a profitable venture. Here’s how it works : • Students have seven weeks • Ventures must be legal • Personal assets may be used but must be replenished • Customers cannot be relatives or employers • Total class profits are donated to a registered charity picked by the manager of the project with the highest profit • The $5 loan must be repaid Recent winner Fred Thompson (Management ’12 ) generated $748 by renting a theatre to show The Lorax. As a result, total class profits of $4,287 went to Right to Play International.
36 techlifemag.ca “There is no shortage of people who want to start businesses. I think our problem is how we build businesses of significance and sustainability.”
– Tracey Scarlett ceo, Alberta Women Entrepreneurs
Step 4 Mind the GAP
over the years as ceo of Alberta Women Entrepreneurs, Instead, she’d like to foster scale-up by integrating Tracey Scarlett has shifted the emphasis from startup newer companies into local supply chains. Big to scale-up. “There is no shortage of people who want corporations and government needs stuff; why can’t to start businesses. I think our problem is how we build reputable small and medium-sized companies supply businesses of significance and sustainability,” says it? “You not only find that you save money in your Scarlett (Medical Laboratory Technology ’87). supply chain,” says Scarlett, “you get the creativity and The point when many businesses fail, she says, is innovation of local businesses that can then grow to be exiting the incubation phase – a period supported by not international businesses.” Construction giant PCL did just Startup Edmonton, but St. Albert’s Northern Alberta that while based in Edmonton, she points out, and so Business Incubator, TEC Edmonton, Edmonton Research did professional services consultant Stantec. Park, the National Institute of Nanotechnology, and NAIT, Those particular success stories are a large part of through its Duncan McNeill Centre for Innovation and the reason that “there needs to be recognition of this its St. Albert incubation facility. For marginal companies, sector – that this is where economic value is created. she explains, going it alone means suddenly taking on You need to have a strong startup community,” she says, specialized legal, accounting and other costs while still “but we’ve already got that.” trying to grow revenues. “The focus on startup probably is counterproductive to what we’re really trying to achieve.” ze n J e an ette Jan by Photo
v7.1 2013 37 INNOVATE • Cover story
Step 5 reap the Rewards
this summer, npo zero was at four full-time employees embedded in our culture,” says Scarlett. To model and while Mawji tried to limit operations to Edmonton nurture that is to lay the foundation for diversity, which clients until he had satisfactory proof of concept. Next makes good business sense. “It’s hedging bets,” says year, or even by the end of this if demand becomes too Mawji. “When you invest in the market you don’t put great, he’ll extend services to Calgary, then the U.S. everything in gold.” Or other resources, for that matter. Compared to Upside at the same point of development, For all of this to succeed, the rewards can still NPO Zero is already bigger, and growing faster. be individual rather than civic, but they have to be As focused as Mawji is on the present, his work much less tangible than most might expect. Before is an investment in the future. He already has an exit joining NAIT, Jay Krysler studied entrepreneurship as a strategy but it does not lead to retirement. There’s consultant. In one instance, he found that just three per another startup on the horizon. “I don’t know what cent of successful startups were driven by want of cash. yet but I will do something – something completely In contrast, profit motivated a third of those that failed. different.” “You have to have a passion,” says Krysler. “That’s what What’s more, he’ll do it here, because of the talent we get the students to understand.” and productivity of the people, the reasonable costs of Mawji gets that. His next venture may be a mystery doing business and the fact that, really, the winter’s only but it will satisfy two requirements. One, it will present unbearable a few weeks out of the year. “There is no the opportunity for broad social impact. Two, he’ll love place like Edmonton,” he says. doing it. Getting that message across to local movers and “I don’t do anything unless I’m having fun,” he says. shakers may be essential to the future of Edmonton, and “Money is never going to drive me. I believe that if it’s Alberta, too. “The entrepreneurial aspiration is quite fun, the rest falls into place.”
Edmonton: open for business
Why is the capital city good for business? Let us count strong economic indicators some of the ways: Edmonton is growing. GDP is expected to beat 2012’s skilled workforce mark by three per cent. Population is growing steadily, and housing starts and building permits are back to Edmonton is home to some of Alberta’s largest post- pre-recession levels, according to city economists. secondary institutes, including NAIT, which together Retail sales also continue to grow. produce thousands of new graduates each year. proximity to the oil sands low taxes As trumpeted by Edmonton Economic Development: Because of the nearly 170 billion barrels of oil buried “We have no provincial sales tax, the lowest overall in the northern half of the province, Edmonton is personal income taxes in Canada, low corporate income geographically positioned as a logistics and supply hub. taxes, no capital tax, no payroll tax, no machinery tax and no equipment tax.”
38 techlifemag.ca NAIT’s JR Shaw School of Business supports leaders and entrepreneurs. We promise relevant knowledge, real skills and rewarding careers to our students in business programs. We deliver on that promise every day. As a leading polytechnic, NAIT offers hands-on, technology-based learning. We work with industry to solve real-world problems and build new ventures. We meet current and emerging needs with career-ready grads and applied business solutions. Essential to Alberta, our programs inspire the next generation of skilled professionals and innovators. TO BUSINESS
nait.ca/business
AND THE WINNERS ARE...
NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN FOR THE NAIT ALUMNI AWARDS! Do you know a NAIT graduate whose achievements make you want to stand and cheer? NAIT celebrates successful alumni with two awards that recognize achievement
1. Alumni Award of Distinction 2. Spirit of NAIT Alumni Award Honouring NAIT alumni who have Recognizes remarkable earned professional prominence achievements earned by a and have contributed signifi cant NAIT Alum within 12 years service to NAIT or the community. of graduation.
Submit your Nomination by December 31 Visit nait.ca/alumniawards, email us at [email protected], or call 780.471.8539
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Techlife –Fall 2013 v7.1 2013 39 7.25” by 4.75”, full colour INNOVATE
B lood Hounds
NAIT and Edmonton Police Service combine forces for animal health. an m a lse n Maverick, a member of the Edmonton Police Service canine unit, gave blood at NAIT’s Animal Blood Bank. Photos by bl ai se v by Photos
40 techlifemag.ca maverick has a high-risk job. As a member of the Edmonton Police Give from Service canine unit, the four-year-old German Shepherd may be called the heart upon to protect Edmontonians by tracking thieves, sniffing out illegal drugs and jumping fences to apprehend suspects. If your dog is: This spring, he also helped fellow canines by donating blood at NAIT. • one to six years old With Canada’s dog population exceeding five million in 2011, • healthy canine blood is in chronic short supply. NAIT’s Animal Blood Bank – • even-tempered Alberta’s only collection site for the Canadian Animal Blood Bank in • 23 kilograms or Winnipeg – works to ensure dogs suffering from anemia, injuries or heavier (but not obese) who need cancer treatments and other major surgical procedures have access to blood. “We are always in need of donors,” says animal • properly vaccinated health instructor Shauna Lesick (Animal Health Technology ’86), who she or he is eligible volunteers with the donor program. to donate at NAIT’s This spring, Maverick was one of several police dogs that donated Animal Blood Bank. over a two-week period. He remained calm as he was prepped for the Call 780.491.1324 15-minute procedure. His partner and handler Const. Murray Burke for details. held his head when Lesick drew a unit of blood, roughly 450 millilitres, with the help of students from the Animal Health Technology and Veterinary Medical Assistant programs. After, Maverick welcomed the reward treats. “Treats are important. We want him to come back and give again,” Lesick says. The donations – more than 2,000 since 2001 – are collected at NAIT and sent to Winnipeg where they are separated into blood types and shipped across Canada. “It’s an important cause,” says Burke. “If my police service dog was to ever require blood because of an injury, I would hope there was an adequate supply available.” Maverick will be a regular donor, and Burke plans to have his own dog donate blood as well.
— Nancy McGuire Const. Murray Burke helps as NAIT students and staff draw a pint of blood (below) from his partner, Maverick.
v7.1 2013 41 All that’s missing...
... is U!
Look us up when you graduate! www.spartancontrols.com PEOPLE
Story by Scott Messenger Photos by Blaise Van Malsen Best in Class f you’re looking for the world’s best air conditioning and refrigeration country. This July, they headed to Leipzig, Germany to test themselves mechanic, you’ll find him in Grande Prairie. For Canada’s best young against technicians and builders from 52 countries and regions. One, Icabinetmaker, try an industrial park in Ponoka. Nearly 40 kilometres Michael Scheideman, returned with a gold medal and Canada’s “Best of north, in Wetaskiwin, there’s an automotive mechanic with similar Nation” title. bragging rights. Hinton’s your spot for top-notch autobody painting, and “Our best students absolutely compete with the very best in the Edmonton for sheet metal. world,” says Dr. Glenn Feltham, NAIT president and CEO. What’s more, How do we know? WorldSkills 2013, an international competition they represent the power of polytechnic education. “They truly do reflect widely regarded as the Olympics of the trades, told us so. Last year, NAIT the level of our programs.” apprentices took top spots at Skills Canada to earn five of the 32 spots And so, too, do they represent the level of talent found scattered on Team Canada – more than any other post-secondary institute in the across Alberta – if you know where to look. Meet Team NAIT. M ichael S chei d e ma n Age: 22 Hometown: Grande Prairie Employer: Albright Refrigeration, Grande Prairie Event: Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Coach: Sean Donnan (Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Mechanic ’12), WorldSkills 2011 competitor Age when introduced to the trade: 14 Favourite part of the job: the variety – he’ll fix air con systems in giant mining trucks one day, home | units the next R efrigeration and C onditioning M echanic Oddball accomplishment: transforming an old golf cart into an ATV – “It does 50 miles an hour.”
“School and learning from somebody at work can only take you so far. Working EST OF GOLD B with my trainers and going
A ir overseas, you just learn NA N TI O so much more.”
v7.1 2013 43 PEOPLE
T yle r H o e | Age: 21 Hometown: Hinton Employer: Apex Auto Body, Hinton Event: Car Painting Coach: Jason Cumby, production manager, Apex Auto Body
Hidden talent: drawing Au to B ody T echnician Latest new auto body skill: air- brushing WorldSkills life lesson: over- coming shyness
“Everything comes down to proper preparation before you paint. Everything else is just gun control and
technique. It has to come naturally. You can’t force it.”
Age: 21 ALLION D O E F Hometown: Millet M Employer: J&E Motors, Wetaskiwin Event: Automobile Technology Coach: Rob Prediger, associate chair, Automotive Service Technician Competitive advantage: an ability to think through problems quickly, says Prediger Favourite task: troubleshooting Pet project: restoring a 1970 Ford half-ton “Cars tell you a lot more information than they used to about where to find the problem and fix it. But there are the times when they don’t, Tyler KENYON | Auto Service Technician and that shows where the real technicians come in.”
44 techlifemag.ca Age: 22 Hometown: Edmonton Employer: Always Plumbing & Heating, Edmonton Event: Sheet Metal Technology Coach: Grant Craplewe (Sheet Metal Worker ‘98), instructor, Sheet Metal Worker, NAIT Reason he loves the trade: the variety of applications, from heavy industry to homes and small businesses WorldSkills eye-opener: how much Europe has computerized fabrication Future plans: open a custom sheet metal shop Nolan Spak | Sheet Metal Worker “WorldSkills has been such a big part of my life. It will take a while to transition back into normal life. I’ve loved every minute of it.”
Age: 22 Bar t v Hometown: Ponoka Employer: Ponoka Cabinet Makers a n Haar en | Event: Joinery Coach: Roger Cloutier, associate chair, Millwork and Carpentry Joinery explained: building joints for doors, windows, stairs Skill he’d like to improve: speed
Highlight from competitions: win- ning $16,000 in tools C abinetmaker
“I must be doing something right, seeing as where I’m at.”
v7.1 2013 45 PEOPLE ceiling unlimited Edmonton Chamber of Commerce president James Cumming shares his view of the city’s economic future. an m a lse n Photo by bl ai se v by Photo
46 techlifemag.ca edmonton is a great place for business. From now through 2025, the city is projected to grow by nearly every metric: GDP, building permits, housing starts and so on. The only number not going up is unemployment. That means recruiting skilled labour is only going to get harder, which is why James Cumming, the new president of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, is making that issue one of his priorities. A veteran local business leader, Cumming (Construction Engineering Technology ’81, chair of the NAIT unlimited Board of Governors 2010-13, Top 50 Alumnus) is working with the chamber’s 2,700 members to ensure government policy aligns with marketplace demands. To learn how, we recently joined him at the chamber’s headquarters in the World Trade Centre. Yes, Edmonton has one of those. — Ruth Juliebo
techlife: What is the role of the Chamber of What does the ideal business future look like Commerce? for Edmonton? James Cumming: The chamber is here to improve I’d like to encourage Edmonton’s entrepreneurs the business environment for its members and to continue to grow their businesses and markets the business community at large. This could so they become players on a more global stage. include taxation levels, access to labour, economic PCL and Stantec are great examples of homegrown development activities, infrastructure issues and businesses that have done very well. I’d also like ways to get products to market. to see our post-secondary institutes play a bigger role in providing continuing education, which helps You’ve had success growing and leading companies [those businesses] grow. here in Edmonton. What made you leave the corporate world and take this role? What advice would you give Edmonton’s new mayor to help us get there? After the other shareholders and I sold Creative Door and I resigned from my role as president and CEO, There has to be a balance between how you spend I was contemplating what was next. This was a nice to create assets that people want to use and how way to get involved with the community in a more you tax to ensure that it’s affordable for people who significant way than running another private business. want to live here. It’s important to have a big, bold vision, but it’s important to have it backed up with What are three key issues that are affecting a practical application that keeps us competitive so Edmonton’s business community? that we can continue to attract talent, businesses The biggest issue is the labour shortage. We need and, when we sell our goods abroad, we don’t put provincial and federal policy that addresses this ourselves at a disadvantage. growing need. And we look to the city to come up What role should NAIT’s JR Shaw School of Business with strategies that make this a desirable destination. play in building the local business community? Being affordable, being safe – those are pieces of the puzzle that will allow us to recruit talent. Many of our alumni from the trades and technology The second major concern is our commodity- programs want to go out and start a business. It’s so based [oil and gas] economy has one main much easier if you have some business education. If customer: the United States. We need access to NAIT embeds business training in all its programs, it expanded markets to take some of the volatility out will increase the success rate of these startups. of the marketplace. Lastly, with a new mayor and many new faces on It’s been 32 years since you graduated from NAIT. council, we need to make sure that the right issues What advice would you offer the next generation are being debated – for business and the community. of grads? If we have a thriving business environment then we You just had to remind me of that! Make sure that have a thriving social environment – the two go you’re giving back. My business life has given me the hand in hand. capital and the grounding that gives me the luxury to go out and help. That’s a privilege that shouldn’t be taken for granted.
v7.1 2013 47 Ask an Expert
Build your network with these nine tips
dan radovanovic was living and working in Grande Prairie when he It’s a perfect example of how networking can further your and his wife decided they needed to be closer to family in Edmonton. career, says Keven McGhan, associate chair of management at So when he found himself thrust into an irresistible networking NAIT’s JR Shaw School of Business. The more connections you have, opportunity, he pounced. the bigger the pool of people you have to draw from when you need At a NAIT dinner where he received the Sandvik Coromant to find a job or make a crucial career move. “If you’ve developed a Leadership Award, the 36-year-old machinist made a connection with bunch of great relationships, you’re not going to Monster.com when a Sandvik Coromant rep who later took him to half a dozen machine you decide you want a career change.” shops in Edmonton. He got a job offer from each one and started as a McGhan (Finance ’89) teaches networking skills and business general machinist at Argus Machine Co. in January 2012. etiquette as part of his sales management courses. Each semester, “When you’re looking for work and you’re placed in an opportunity his students host a networking dinner for employers, at which many where there’s people around who can help, don’t hold back,” says of the students make “handshake deals” that often lead to jobs. Radovanovic (Machinist ’11). Even if you’re painfully shy, you can learn to network, whether you run into that very desirable contact at a networking event or while waiting to cross a downtown street. Building on Radovanovic’s “be direct” approach, McGhan offers his top tips to help you build confidence and make sure you never miss a chance to connect. — Eliza Barlow
ELEVATOR SPEECH A guy walks onto an elevator and in two floors or less lets others know who he is and what he has to offer. He’s delivered an “elevator speech,” or what McGhan describes as a 30-second verbal cover letter. For example, a friend of
McGhan’s says in his elevator speech: “I help Add Value BE INTERESTING tt people make their mortgages tax-deductible.” Think about what you can do for your new Be primed to talk about current events so v ia Your elevator speech should offer relevant contact, not the other way around. “Your you won’t be afraid of having nothing to information about you, customized to your first objective should be to help someone say. Show up to an event armed with an goals. So if you hope to land a job in marketing, else,” says McGhan. “If you introduce them interesting – and positive – news story to dy O A n dy t i o n s by your elevator speech could start with, “Hi, I’m to someone or something that’s going to help discuss. “Don’t talk politics, at least not at
Jane Jones and I make videos go viral.” them, they’re going to remember that.” the beginning. It can be very polarizing.” a Illustr
48 techlifemag.ca Networking non-starters Don’t rely on LinkedIn Look at a networking Eye contact is crucial or other social media as event or opportunity as while talking to your main networking a place to make a few someone, says McGhan. 1 tool. It doesn’t replace 2 meaningful contacts, 3 “Don’t scan the room face-to-face contact, not collect as many for the next, most says McGhan. Add business cards as you can. interesting target.” someone on LinkedIn only after you’ve met him or her in person.
MAKE SOME TAKE A BUDDY POST-CHAT NOTES MASTER THE ART Introverts can benefit from a buddy system After a great conversation with a new OF small Talk at important networking events. “Go with contact, write down a few notes on the It’s not as small as you might think. Good someone who is more outgoing than you,” back of his business card – for example, a small-talkers are the ones who practice “host suggests McGhan, and lean on the person to hobby or interest he mentioned. It will help behaviour.” McGhan says, “Try to make the introduce you to some contacts. “Eventually, keep the conversation going when you send other person feel as comfortable as possible. confidence will come and you won’t need a follow-up email. If you found out he has Ask them lots of questions about themselves, them as much.” A buddy can also cut in and a sailboat, McGhan suggests doing some show interest and ask follow-up questions.” help steer you away if you’ve been waylaid by research on sailing and including a link to an Most people will eventually start to ask about someone for too long and are having trouble online article with a note to say, “Hey, I was you – and give you a chance to shine. ending the conversation. reading this and thought of you.”
v7.1 2013 49 Win an Ook T-shirt!
Have you tried Baking grad Amy Nachtigall’s recipe for ginger cookies? (If not, do you know where to find them?) Do you know how to limit your risk when dealing with renovation contractors? Do you have a budgeting strategy for the upcoming holiday season? Have you seen Personal Fitness Trainer grad Amy Pysar’s outdoor workout video? Did you hear about Kai Dan, the most decorated student athlete in NAIT’s history? If you answered no to any of these questions, you should subscribe to our e-newsletter! Eight times a year, we’ll send you the latest from techlifemag.ca, our online technology lifestyle magazine. Over the past year, we featured the stories listed above and dozens of others you won’t find in the print edition of techlife – they’re only on the web. Stop missing out – and win! Visit techlifemag.ca, click Subscribe and fill in the appropriate fields. Do so before Jan. 31, 2014 and we’ll enter you in a random draw to win one of 10 limited-edition “Generation Ooks” T-shirts. If you’re already a subscriber – thanks! You can still enter. Send your name to [email protected] and use T-shirt as the subject.
Good luck! See you online. techlifemag.ca
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50 techlifemag.ca CULINAIT
Hokanson Chef in Residence Chris Cosentino forces students to face the facts about where meat comes from and how to use it responsibly.
featured alumni Rosario Caputo, Culinary Arts ’05 Daniel Costa, Culinary Arts ’05 Brayden Kozak, Culinary Arts ’02 Blair Lebsack, Cook ’98 Story by Corey Meyer, Retail Meatcutting ’96 Jennifer Cockrall-King Dan Westgeest, Computer Network Administration ’02, Photos by
hoto su pp l i ed p hoto Retail Meatcutting ’05, Culinary Arts ’07 Blaise van malsen v7.1 2013 51 CULINAIT
Chris Cosentino helps students, including Emily Olson and Briana Overacker (below), prepare dishes for Hokanson Chef in Residence events.
hokanson chef in residence This unique program provides students in the School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts with a rare opportunity to learn from the best chefs in the world. The program – the result of a generous donation from John and Susan Hokanson – began with Canadian celebrity chef Rob Feenie in 2009, followed by David Adjey in 2010, Susur Lee in 2011 and Massimo Capra in 2012.
52 techlifemag.ca s 50 culinary arts students in crisp white chef jackets jostle for seats in a NAIT food lab, Chris ACosentino strides to the front of the room. With all of his duties as 2013 Hokanson Chef in Residence – master classes like this one, public appearances, and dinners and luncheons he has yet to prepare – there’s not a moment to spare. As far as famous chefs go, Cosentino is highly recognizable. It’s not just for the Buddy Holly glasses and the culinary-themed tattoos (there’s a butcher’s diagram of a pig on one arm and a fork-knife-and- spoon set on the other). Nor is it necessarily for the appearances on Iron Chef America and Next Iron Chef, or for winning Top Chef Masters in 2012. Cosentino is one of North America’s top advocates for nose-to-tail cuisine, making use of virtually everything, including offal – those innards and extremities once dismissively referred to as “variety meats.” As if to prove it, Cosentino starts by showing his class a video in which he transforms an enormous pig’s head into porchetta di testa salumi, an Italian slow-cooked meat roll involving the head, tongue and ears. At first, gasps and “eeeuuwws” ricochet around the room but soon an enthusiastic round of questions takes over. These chefs-to-be ask about cooking time, seasoning and other technical aspects of making porchetta di testa and other salumi. No doubt, Cosentino appreciates this. The executive chef of San Francisco’s award-winning Incanto restaurant is determined to change how our disposable society thinks about the whole animal, beyond the rib-eye and tenderloin. And while he wants these up-and-coming Alberta chefs to confront the reality of the origin of a steak, chicken breast or pork chop, he also wants them to take that as an opportunity to push themselves creatively. If he’s successful, it could be a triple win: for our livestock and the environment, for these future chefs’ food budgets and for adventurous diners. Sensing that he’s got the class past the first hurdle, Cosentino tells the students that he tries to take his kitchen staff to harvest a pig on a California farm at least once a year. It’s an extremely emotional experience, he explains, and it changes you. He sees that in his staff and has seen it in himself. “The day I first harvested an animal was the day I put more offal on the menu,” he says. “You become very humbled.” daniel westgeest (Retail Meatcutting ‘05, Culinary Arts ‘07), chair of NAIT’s Professional Meatcutting and Merchandising program, applauds Cosentino’s philosophy. “Cosentino’s attitude is that we have to be - Dan Westgeest, Chair Professional Meatcutting and Merchandising nice to the earth that is being nice to us. Doing things in a humane manner and being more responsible, that’s the new generation of chefs coming up.”
v7.1 2013 53 CULINAIT
North American meat production is hugely resource stewing or braising), and chicken or turkey hearts and intensive. It can take up to 15,000 litres of water and neck stuffed with sausage. This was cuisine of the seven to 10 kilograms of grain to produce the one-kilo quinto quarto, literally an animal’s “fifth quarter,” or package of beef in the grocery store. what remains after butchering the outer fore and hind “It’s time to put liver and onions back on the menu, quarters. He reminds us that many familiar favourites to use the bones to make stock again,” Westgeest urges. were born of resourcefulness. Several Edmonton chefs have already started to “Look at how ravioli was created,” he says. “You take Right, Chris revive comfort foods based on nose-to-tail ethics, with the off-cuts and stuff them in a starch. You become Cosentino offers homemade salumi and offal recipes reimagined in a creative with the ingredients you have available.” hands-on instruction modern way. At Corso 32, Costa thrills at the depth of flavours to student Eric Anderson. Far right, Creativity drives Daniel Costa (Culinary Arts ’05), and the variety of textures he can coax from these Cosentino’s green chef and owner of Corso 32, to feature non-primary meats. He explains that while these dishes involve more chili steak tartare cuts and offal on his menu. Clearly, it’s been good for cooking skill, like his braised tripe with tomato and chili, on crostini. Below, business, as reservations at this downtown Edmonton the reward is more flavour per pound, which keeps Rosario Caputo, restaurant are among the toughest to get in the city. food costs down and customer satisfaction high. And owner of Edmonton’s Cibo Bistro, Costa draws a direct line from his Italian roots apparently, Edmontonians are more open-minded than embraces cooking to nose-to-tail cooking. He grew up eating oxtail ever. “In our 34-seat restaurant, we’ll sell 14 orders of with off-cuts. (the tough bone-in cut of beef tail that requires long chicken liver per night.”
edmonton, snout-to-tail Try these restaurants for a full-bodied culinary experience. Because of the nature of using the whole animal, nose- to-tail menu items change regularly.
corso 32 10345 Jasper Ave. chef/owner Daniel Costa (Culinary Arts ’05) cibo bistro 11244 - 104 Ave. chef/owner Rosario Caputo (Culinary Arts ’05) three boars 8424 - 109 St. chef/owner Brayden Kozak (Culinary Arts ’02) rge rd 10643 - 123 St. chef/owner Blair Lebsack (Cook ’98)
54 techlifemag.ca Rosario Caputo (Culinary Arts ’05), Cibo Bistro’s owner and chef, also loves the creative challenges of offal. For his older customers’ pleasure, he’s resurrecting “taste memories” of their youth. And younger diners love the novelty of untasted territory. When he can, Caputo features guanciale (aged, cured pork jowl), bresaola (air-dried, aged salted beef) and lardo (salt-brined and cured pork fat). Last summer, he ordered a whole pig’s head for porchetta di testa, which he thought he’d end up throwing out. But his customers, quite literally, ate it up. “I’m now on my 26th head,” he says. Interest is spreading beyond the city’s restaurants. Corey Meyer (Retail Meatcutting ’96), third-generation meat-cutter and owner of Acme Meat Market, has become a de facto supplier to those who have dined out on nose-to-tail menus and want to try it at home. Demand for pork belly at his south-side shop, Meyer says, is “off the charts.” He also gets requests for brain, skin, kidneys and heart. Handling full and half carcasses and cutting to order gives him a business advantage. “It’s not like a supermarket can handle these types of requests,” says Meyer.
to close out the master class, Cosentino prepares a green chili-spiked steak tartare served on a round of baguette. Today, he uses raw beef chuck, a tougher, shoulder cut usually reserved for long braising or ground beef, rather than the raw beef heart served at Incanto. Every student, even the vegetarians in the room, is encouraged to try it. It’s part of their culinary education, he tells them. Ericka Degner, 18, a shy, second-semester student, hesitates before biting into the ruby-red meat. “This is all new,” she says, surprised that she likes it. “I’m happy he inspired me to try it. I would have regretted it if I hadn’t.” “Your job is to get better every day,” Cosentino tells them. Getting better, he says, is about opening up to new experiences and setting goals of “creating taste memories, every day.” What’s more, he argues that they are uniquely positioned as chefs to create demand and interest in offal and off-cuts. In this sense, he sees their roles as both culinary artists and activists. His own food suggests that you can put the best interests of animals and environment, your business and your customers, together in one dish. After all, says Cosentino as a final thought to the next generation of chefs, “You can only change the world one plate at a time.”
v7.1 2013 55 CULINAIT
[ RECIPE ]
From Beginnings: My Way to Start a Meal by Chris Cosentino
Serves 4
Ham Hocks Ham Hocks 2 ham hocks, about 500 g (1 lb) in total Combine the hocks, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves and 1.25 L (5 cups) water in a heavy pot and ½ medium yellow onion cook slowly for 2 to 3 hours or until very tender. (To use a pressure cooker, follow the manufacturer’s 1 large carrot, halved instructions, secure the lid, bring up to full pressure and cook for 45 to 60 minutes. Let the pressure 1 celery rib, halved release naturally for 10 minutes, then uncover.) Remove the hocks and set aside on a plate to cool. 3 bay leaves Strain the broth and discard the solids. Reserve 375 ml (1½ cups) of the broth, discard the remainder Lentils or reserve for another use. Remove the meat from the ham hocks, discarding the skin and bones. 105 g (½ cup) green lentils, Cover and refrigerate. picked over and rinsed Lentils 1 head garlic, split crosswise ½ medium yellow onion In a saucepan, bring the lentils and 750 ml (3 cups) water to a boil over high heat. Immediately ½ large carrot, halved remove the pan from the heat, drain the lentils, rinse under cold running water and return the lentils 1 bay leaf to the pan. Add 750 ml (3 cups) water, the garlic, onion, carrot and bay leaf to the pan and bring to a kosher salt and freshly ground simmer over medium heat. Cook just until the lentils are tender but not split, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain black pepper the lentils well and discard the vegetables and bay leaf. Spread the lentils on a rimmed baking sheet, season with salt and pepper and let cool completely. Cover and refrigerate. To finish 4 Swiss chard leaves, To Finish preferably with white ribs Separate the green leaves from the chard ribs. Separately cut the leaves and ribs crosswise into strips 15 ml (1 tbsp) extra-virgin olive oil, 1 cm (½ inch) wide. In a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion, plus more for drizzling carrot, chard ribs and garlic to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, 45 g (¼ cup) finely diced yellow onion about 4 minutes. Add the reserved lentils, the ham-hock meat, the reserved 375 ml (1½ cups) of ham 45 g (¼ cup) finely diced peeled carrot 30 ml (2 tbsp) thinly sliced garlic broth and the chicken stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the chard leaves and cook until the 250 ml (1 cup) chicken stock leaves are tender, about 4 minutes. Taste for seasoning and adjust with vinegar. Taste again and adjust 5 ml (1 tsp) sherry vinegar the seasoning with salt and pepper, if needed. (The ham hock broth can sometimes be salty enough.) kosher salt and freshly ground To serve, ladle into warmed bowls and top each serving with a drizzle of olive oil. black pepper
56 techlifemag.ca v7.1 2013 57 SPACES
The view from the top
58 techlifemag.ca the panoramic view from the 8th floor lounge of the NAIT JR Shaw Hospital for Women open in 2010. In the coming decades, the tower will School of Business makes it a perennial favourite student and staff provide a great view of the Blatchford redevelopment on the City Centre hangout. Throughout the years, it has been a great place to watch the Airport lands just west of campus, a project that will be transformative city evolve. Since the tower opened in 1965, downtown Edmonton has for NAIT and the local community. In the meantime, staff and students been transformed, starting with the opening of the CN Tower, which, continue to enjoy the view from the tower. “8th floor Business Tower is an ze n at 26 storeys, was once the tallest building west of Toronto. Closer to the best kept secret at #NAIT,” librarian Kalin Jensen tweeted recently. campus, visitors to the lounge would have seen the NAIT Activities “Awesome view, lots of seating, watching a storm roll in … #yeg”. from the top Centre open in 1973, Kingsway Mall open in 1976 and the Lois Hole — Kristen Vernon Photo by je an ette j by Photo
v7.1 2013 59 TRANSFORM YOUR CORPORATE TRAINING PROGRAM
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60 techlifemag.ca 5 WAYS
Get involved with NAIT Five great reasons to come back to campus
2 Dining Enjoy contemporary cuisine prepared and served by Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management students at Ernest’s, NAIT’s on-campus restaurant. Open mid-September through April (closed mid-December to mid-January), Ernest’s serves lunch Monday to Thursday, with a buffet every Friday. Dinner service runs Tuesday to Friday, with special events on Saturday. View the menu and make reservations at nait.ca/ernests or call 780.471.8676.
1 SHOPPING Purchase quality cuts of meat and fish prepared by students at the Retail Meat Store, located in the Common Market on Main Campus. The store is open Tuesday to Thursday (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), mid-September to mid-April (closed mid-December to mid-January). For more information, visit nait.ca/retailmeatstore or call 780.471.8678.
3 Entertainment 4 Socializing 5 Fitness Cheer on the Ooks! With Do you enjoy connecting NAIT’s recreation teams competing in basketball, with alumni and want facilities include an hockey, volleyball and more, to give back? The arena, fitness and there is sure to be a sport for Alumni Council events weight centre, pool, you. Adult admission ranges subcommittee is looking squash and racquetball from free to $7 and children for volunteers to help courts, gymnasium and
hers ap hers a ff p hotogr under 12 are always free. coordinate events. To be indoor running track. For season passes, group part of this team, contact For information on tickets and schedules, visit [email protected] or call memberships and more, by NAI T st S by nait.ca/athletics or call 780.471.8539. visit nait.ca/recreation or
Photo 780.471.7713. call 780.471.7713.
v7.1 2013 61 62 techlifemag.ca JOB DESCRIPTION street smart How Bob Dunford keeps Edmonton in motion
On weekends, Bob Dunford (Civil Engineering Technology ’78) leaves his trademark wide-brimmed fedora at home. In what free time he has, the director of road maintenance for the City Bob Dunford, seen in a rare instance without his fedora of Edmonton would rather not be so easily recognized and risk getting an earful i always knew i wanted to work in roads. You see the results of your work right away. You have a about snowy roads or perpetual responsibility and you can see the impact you have on keeping the city moving every day. potholes. Roads are one of i get to work at around 6:30 a.m. to catch up on correspondence and get a daily update from those things people love to my team about what’s happening on the city’s roads. Many days, I attend city council meetings hate, but Dunford didn’t go or council committee meetings to talk about long-term budgets. into the job for pats on the our budget is $105 million for operations and $160 million for capital projects. Last winter, we hauled two million cubic metres of snow and laid down 185,000 tonnes of abrasives and back (though he does get a de-icers. As of the end of June, we had filled more potholes than the average for an entire compliment, now and then). year – about 420,000. Our latest big project has been putting together a financial strategy for He joined the city’s roadway arterial road [major routes] rehabilitation. maintenance department roadway maintenance is always in the public eye. People like to talk about snow and ice in the as a new NAIT grad and has winter, and potholes and street cleanup in the spring. I get hate mail. People vent, whether it’s stayed for 35 years, doing in the newspapers, on Facebook or Twitter. You can’t take it to heart. The public service isn’t for everyone. You’re trying to accomplish something for the greater public good and you can everything from pavement often be underappreciated. management to bridge in the winter of 2010-11 we moved a record amount of snow. The west end dumping site technology to running the hit almost 60 metres high and didn’t melt until Sept. 10. People took to calling it Snow Dirt asphalt plant to his current Mountain [chuckles]. Sometimes, if you can have a little fun with it, it helps. role in operations. He knows As told to Eliza Barlow Edmonton’s 11,800 lane kilometres of road – nearly the distance from here to St. John’s and back – more The Skinny Road maintenance director Civil engineering technologist intimately than anyone. Each • salary Range: $125-150,000/year • salary: $36.23/hour (mean wage)
an Ma lse n day, he does his utmost to • Hours: 50 hours a week, Monday to Friday • Hours: Regular office hours, plus overtime make sure Edmontonians • Location: Office • Location: Offices and construction sites, sometimes in poor weather and in isolated locations can safely use them to get • Education: Civil Engineering Technology diploma, plus extensive experience in all • Education: Civil Engineering Technology diploma
Photo by B l ai se v by Photo where they need to go. aspects of roadway maintenance
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The Syncrude Project is a joint venture undertaking among Canadian Oil Sands Partnership #1, Imperial Oil Resources, Mocal Energy Limited, Murphy Oil Company Ltd., Nexen Oil Sands Partnership, Sinopec Oil Sands Partnership, and Suncor Energy Ventures Partnership. 64 techlifemag.ca
SYCPACC38055 Dream Bigger - Techlife.indd 1 6/14/13 10:25 AM ACCLAIM and the award goes to... Grads, staff and students continue to amass awards in multiple categories, from industry to innovation to athletics. Here are a few recent winners.
Man of influence perry michetti, associate dean of the School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts, was named one of the province’s 50 Most Influential People by Alberta Venture magazine in its July 2013 issue. The editors note that, under Michetti’s leadership, NAIT has built the Hokanson Centre for Culinary Arts, staff and students have captured awards at international competitions and the school has Canada’s first annual chef-in- residence program.
Food and lodging This June, lance torgerson (Management ‘95, right) and daniel costa (Culinary Arts ’05) received NAIT’s Alumni Award of Distinction and Spirit of NAIT award, respectively. Torgerson runs Noralta Lodge Ltd., the largest independent industrial lodging company in the country. Costa is the owner of Corso 32, named one of Canada’s best restaurants by Maclean’s magazine.
Instrumental to Mound of medals Skills builder Hall of famer learning Culinary Team NAIT rob prediger was named For dominating wheelchair racing After just two years as returned in May from the the 2013 Skills Volunteer of in the 1980s, robert easton an Instrument Technician Hong Kong International the Year for nine years of (Management ’82) was inducted instructor, dan bassett Culinary Classic 13 with 20 coordinating competitions and this year into the Canadian (Instrument Mechanic ’97) has medals – a new record for judging for Skills Canada Alberta, Paralympic Hall of Fame. At the earned the 2012 Top Instructor NAIT. The 11-member team a not-for-profit that promotes ’84 and ’88 Paralympics, he took Award for the northern region (composed of students, trades and technical careers to eight gold medals and one silver, from Alberta Apprenticeship coaches and the team youth. For the associate chair and held multiple world records. and Industry Training. The manager) earned four gold, of the Automotive Service Easton, who has cerebral palsy, student-nominated award eight silver and eight bronze Technician program, the reward is also a member of the Alberta recognizes presentation skills, medals. The event was lies in seeing transformations. Sports Hall of Fame and the fairness and more. After 30 part of HOFEX 2013, the At first, the high-school Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports hers ap hers a ff p hotogr years in industry prior to NAIT, largest food and hospitality competitors are “like deer in the Hall of Fame. Bassett says, “I’m definitely tradeshow in the Asia- headlights,” he says. “You can
by NAI T st S by happier teaching than working Pacific region. see the improvement as they compete each year.”
Photo in the plant.”
v7.1 2013 65 Rewind
Web Extra Visit techlifemag.ca/25th- digging up the past anniversary-time-capsule. htm to read 1987-88 NAITSA buried in the wall of the student lounge, the Nest, in 1988 and opened earlier this year as part of NAIT@50 president Gord Matthew’s letter, which he intended to be read celebrations, the 25th anniversary time capsule offers a glimpse into a world that, as much as it has changed, during the 50th anniversary has stayed so much the same. Here, a look at some of the items discovered in the black trunk. celebrations in 2013. — Kristen Vernon
Anniversary memorabilia NAIT Queen selection rules NAIT’s 25th anniversary kicked off on Oct. 1, 1987 with First Class Responsibilities of the NAIT Queen included attending and promoting Day, celebrating the day, 25 years earlier, when 29 Communication NAIT Student Association (NAITSA) events, representing the student Electrician apprentices began their training. Students and instructors association in the competition for Miss Edmonton Eskimo and more. from that first class returned for the festivities, which included a The tradition lasted 26 years until 1991, when only one candidate luncheon and birthday cake. Coffee and tea were sold at the 1962 price came forward. The queen was chosen through a mix of popular vote of 10 cents a cup. Celebrations continued through May 28, 1988, when and participation in events that included human pyramid building, lip the institute held its first homecoming, with “alumnaits” from every syncing and a fashion show. The queen selection came with a series graduating class and some 50 programs returning for campus tours, of strict regulations outlined by NAITSA, including “no kidnapping or a dinner and dance. stealing of candidates.” The 1988 queen was Business Administration student Joanne Geisinger. Open House poster and course calendars In its 25th year, NAIT offered 57 diploma and certificate programs, Condoms and STD/AIDS brochures 47 apprenticeship trades and about 400 continuing education credit The first AIDS diagnosis was made in the U.S. in 1981 and in Canada and non-credit courses. Today, NAIT offers approximately 140 credit a year later. As the number of cases climbed, the community and programs leading to degrees, applied degrees, diplomas and certificates, governments responded. In 1987, the World Health Organization 34 apprenticeship trades and more than 459 non-credit continuing launched a global AIDS strategy and the U.S. Food and Drug education courses. Administration said that condoms could be used to prevent the spread of HIV. A year later, the Canadian AIDS Society released the country’s Nest menu first safe sex guidelines. The disease was on the mind of 1987-88 When the Nest opened in 1988, students could get a McNest breakfast NAITSA president Gord Matthew (Management ’87, Finance ’88): of scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese and toast for $2.50, a 12-ounce draft “Here in 1988, things scare me. Will AIDS ever be cured? Will there for $1.50 and deep-fried perogies for $3.50. Today, a pint of domestic continue to be widespread world hunger? Will NAIT janitors still be beer sells for $5.75 and the menu includes gourmet pizzas, hot dogs driving those dangerous Zamboni-like floor polishers!?” and burgers served on artisan bread. Photo by L e i gh F rey by Photo
66 techlifemag.ca Discover why over 375,000 graduates enjoy greater savings
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