Latest news with #LethbridgePolytechnic
Global News
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Global News
Southern Alberta students prepare for the future
See more sharing options Send this page to someone via email Share this item on Twitter Share this item via WhatsApp Share this item on Facebook Gathering at Lethbridge Polytechnic, students from across southern Alberta built wind-powered cars during a fun engineering day away from the classroom. 'The Wind Rally was really supposed to focus on core competencies in the trades,' said Peter Gallagher with the Southern Alberta Collegiate Institute. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The aim of the day was for students to sample various roles to learn what they enjoy doing and what they don't. As explained in the video above, students found fun in accounting, building and more.
Global News
23-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
Lethbridge Polytechnic celebrates 1st convocation since rebrand
As hats flew into the air and cheers echoed in the room, the next generation of graduates made history as the first class of Lethbridge Polytechnic. Formerly Lethbridge College, the institution rebranded in 2024 to showcase the programs on offer. 'I think it means that we're differentiating ourselves a little bit from out past. We're proud of our past being a community college, but we've evolved since and the polytechnic reflects what we do,' said Marco Hilgersom, registrar at Lethbridge Polytechnic. 2:01 Lethbridge College to become polytechnic institution Those graduating couldn't help but smile when awarded with their first-of-a-kind diplomas. Story continues below advertisement 'It's a cool opportunity to be the first convocation class of Lethbridge Polytechnic. I know the polytechnic has a long standing place here in southern Alberta,' said Governor General's Academic Award recipient, Jaydon Haustein. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy He, along with valedictorian Abigayle Terrill, led the way academically this year. Both stand-out students are graduates of the agriculture sciences program. 'It's a very, almost unique circumstance, to have both the valedictorian and the Governor General's Award recipient out of the exact same program,' Haustein said. 'I think that's a great sign for agriculture, I think that means students and especially ag students, are really taking their role seriously.' Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I think that's a great sign for agriculture, I think that means students and especially ag students, are really taking their role seriously." Haustein says the days of taking over the family farm straight out of high school are over and higher education is a must. 'By taking our education seriously and trying our best and excelling and really putting our minds towards 'Okay, how do we make ourselves more efficient or more profitable or use better economic practices and ecological practices, socially acceptable practices?' It's really important,' he said. 'There cannot be an uneducated farmer anymore and still make a profit.' Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "There cannot be an uneducated farmer anymore and still make a profit." The efforts of these two and the entire graduating class is something the Polytechnic says is encouraging for the future. Story continues below advertisement 'It's an exciting time for Lethbridge because I think we're on the cusp of something,' said Hilgersom.
Hamilton Spectator
05-05-2025
- Science
- Hamilton Spectator
Hack-and-Seek challenges city students to think virtually
For the second year, Lethbridge Polytechnic will be hosting Hack-and-Seek, a beat-the-clock virtual reality (VR) event for high school students. Hack-and-seek participants will be working in teams of three to create a VR experience from scratch in three days. About 68 students will be participating in this challenge at three locations-Lethbridge Polytechnic, SAIT and NAIT, with the polytechnic hosting 20 of the participants. This will be Cooper Horne's second crack at this event, after placing second last year. He says he was a little nervous coming into this, but came out with new friendships formed. 'Last year I was a little bit nervous because I didn't know how good I was going to be compared to everyone else, but it was a lot less about comparison and more talking to everyone and seeing what was out there and what everyone came up with.' Horne is one of six returning participants, something Anamaria Turk, applied research operations officer for Spatial Technology and Applied Research and Training (START), says is very exciting to see. 'It's really nice to see that they've really got something out of the event and they really want to come back and go back at it again.' Turk says while this experience will give them hands-on experience and a project to show for it afterwards, it's also teaching them skills such as teamwork, which are equally important. She adds that the kids won't know their teammates until the event and they work as a team throughout the event. The final results of Hack-and-Seek will be filmed on Sunday and posted to the Lethbridge Polytechnic's YouTube channel.
Global News
01-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
Lethbridge Polytechnic researchers aim to reduce food waste
Six years ago, extreme weather, international market closures and skyrocketing expenses left Alberta farmers reeling from significant losses. 'In 2019, we had a very bad year and we all know it,' said Chandra Singh, a research chair with Lethbridge Polytechnic. 'Total losses of all the crops in Alberta alone were about $750 million.' Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Total losses of all the crops in Alberta alone were about $750 million." He and his team began working to find solutions to very real problems in the agriculture industry. 'We are focusing on three major crops which are prominent in Alberta. All the grain crops here, potato is another main crop — particularly in southern Alberta — and sugar beets are another crop. We are focusing on all three crops on the storage, handling, some of the processing and the quality aspect,' he said. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy While storage might appear as simple as dumping crops in a container, Singh says that mindset is exactly what's causing one-fifth of all Canadian-produced food to go to waste. Story continues below advertisement 'We are working on different sensing technologies for monitoring with our industrial partners. They will improve the monitoring, then (be able to) make better decisions. Also, the automation side, so creating better storage environments,' Singh said. 'For example, in grain bins you want to first dry the grain, then cool it, then monitor and keep it for as long as you need it to be there.' Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "For example, in grain bins you want to first dry the grain, then cool it, then monitor and keep it for as long as you need it to be there." He says some of these solutions could save $75 million every year. 'I'm not saying that you cannot do more, but being realistic, I think that's what the impact should be,' said Singh. It may not seem like it, but finding food efficiencies is crucial for everything from better beer to tastier tomatoes. 'There are so many aspects. There's the soil health, there's the plant health, then there's the agronomy side of things. We work a lot on the seeding rates and dates and all sorts of things,' said Mike Gretzinger, manager of the agronomy program at Farming Smarter. 'Almost any factor that you can think of is going to have an impact on the end result.' Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Almost any factor that you can think of is going to have an impact on the end result." He says research conducted by his organization ensures farmers are better prepared in the event of a 2019 repeat. Story continues below advertisement 'We can test out things so 500,000 other individual farmers don't have to fail at something. We can test it out and fail at it and give a consensus over what we should be doing instead.'
CBC
23-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Alberta's new collegiate programs offer hands-on career experience for high-school students
Educators and students are praising provincial investments in collegiate programs that offer hands-on experience in a variety of career paths. Collegiate programs offer specialized programming to create a clear pathway for high school students into post-secondary studies. The programs, offered through both public and private school authorities, receive approval and startup funding from the province to get off the ground and are supported by post-secondary institutions as well as industry partners. One example is the Southern Alberta Collegiate Institute, where seven southern Alberta school divisions partner with Lethbridge Polytechnic to offer programming for high school students in trades, agriculture and health care. The training ranges from a first-year introduction to more focused pre-employment training in Grade 12 in a specific career path. Jason Kupery, director of learning with the Lethbridge-based Palliser School Division, said the collegiate programs give students a sense of purpose while finding a career path they feel passionate about, opening doors for their future. "There are plenty of students out there who are incredibly intelligent, but don't want to sit in a classroom to learn that way," Kupery said. "So when they're able, for instance, to enter a trades pathway, light bulbs and all kinds of things go on, because they're like, 'This is what I'm good at. I'm working with my hands; I feel like I belong here.'" Alberta has funded collegiate programming since 2022, with the first programs launching in fall 2023. There are now 12 collegiate programs approved to operate around the province. The province has funded the collegiate programs to the tune of $101 million in capital investments since 2022. This includes allocating $21.5 million for each of the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years. 'I think it's beneficial' Cyra Graf, a high school student from Taber, Alta., who's interested in working as a parts technician, praised the effort that's gone into the program's development. "It's a good introduction and it really showcases the trades and where you can fit in, what you're good at and what you're not good at," Graf said. "I think it's beneficial." Kaden Belisle, a Grade 11 student, said he appreciates the hands-on experience the program provides as he looks to pursue a career working on trucks and engines. "Trying a bunch of other stuff just made it so I could figure out what my path was and what I wanted to do," Belisle said. Southern Alberta Collegiate Institute co-director Joelle Reynolds noted the program also helps students by giving them access to speak directly to industry professionals. "I grew up in a really small community, and the idea of walking into a college or a polytechnic or a university was very intimidating for me," Reynolds said. "So knowing that this program is accessible to students from across a wide variety of communities is really exciting." Reynolds added that the programming naturally complements classroom learning by getting students out into the world to see work sites, talk to professionals and business owners and learn about what's possible for them. Kupery agreed that on-the-job programming can help students make connections when it comes to how their classroom courses are useful in the real world. "I see these collegiate and dual-credit programs as an extension of the wonderful teaching and learning that's going on," Kupery said.
