A lover of technology, reading, travelling, and games, Douglas Modena’s first kick at coding was in his high school computer technician course. He then moved on to carpentry at the Brazilian National Service for Industrial Training (SENAI) before returning to Systems Analysis at the Federal Institute of São Paulo, Brazil. Now, thanks to a scholarship from the Canada/Brazil Science Without Borders program, he is wrapping up a year in the Web Development stream of RRC’s Business Information Technology (BIT) program. Interestingly, Douglas’s current development project combines his love of both information technology and carpentry. The interactive game environment he is helping to build for Apprenticeship Manitoba is a platform to introduce young adults to the skilled trades. Read More →

The Accounting and Computer Education department awarded 33 awards to students in Business Information Technology, Introduction to Business Information Technology and Applied Accounting.  On Wednesday, June 17 the award winners and their guests attended the Awards presentation at Roblin Centre to receive their awards.

Thank you to our Business Information Technology Advisory Committee Chair, Gerry Glatz, for helping to hand out the awards.

Thank you to our award sponsors, Eileen Penner, the Huhtala Family, Gladys Bell, Paterson GlobalFoods, Ricoh Canada, MTS, and Great West Life.

Awards Program 2015

BIT Space bad boy Diego Santos

Diego Santos is an enthusiast of web/mobile technologies, programming, and all things cool. Though more focused on backend PHP and JavaScript/HTML5, he also has solid Java skills for Android and is starting to get into Cordova apps development. A self-proclaimed “authentic Brazilian guy”, Diego loves soccer, both on the field and, because he’s a bit of a nerd too, of course in video games.

He also happens to be a really nice guy. Read More →

Anderson Pires Pereira, BIT Space Developer

“N&SAmerica-pol” by CIA, original political map from Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection; University of Texas Library Online. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Whereas Andre Felipe, the subject of our last BIT Project student profile, hailed from the massive metropolis of São Paulo, the largest city in the southern hemisphere at over 20 million inhabitants, Anderson Pires Pereira comes from Santa Vitória do Palmar (“Saint Victoria of the Palms”), a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul whose population is smaller than Brandon Manitoba’s. Santa Vitória do Palmar is the most southerly corner of Brazil, lying a whopping 10,000 km from Winnipeg. It also includes the larger part of Cassino Beach, the world’s longest uninterrupted stretch of sandy ocean shore, over 240 km! Read More →

End of Sprint # 3 and our Brazilian BIT students continue to impress. BIT Space Development’s overarching goal is the delivery of gamified 360-degree panoramas, but its framework’s success hinges on the open-ended set of integrated games and activities that it will house and launch. To reach the broadest possible audience, that impressive collection of learning components (or activity types) is being called PanoPlā (pronounced pano play) and will deploy over the Web to any browser or mobile device. Read More →

Andre Felipe Costa Silva, BIT Developer

So how does a 20 year-old from  São Bernardo do Campo (a municipality of São Paulo, Brazil) end up in Winnipeg? Andre Felipe, a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) gamer who likes coding and reading poems, would tell you that it’s a mix of hard work and luck. His success in a System Analysis and Development program in Brazil won him a seat in the Business Information Technology (BIT) program. Now having completed two BIT academic semesters, Andre Felipe is part of a team of eight developers in the Massey Building who are building a platform for the delivery of interactive 360-degree panoramas. Read More →

We are having an information session for the Introduction to Business Information Technology, Business Information Technology, and the brand new Business Technology Management program.  Learn about our programs on Tuesday, May 26 at 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm at the Roblin Campus in room P107; or on Tuesday, June 2 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at Roblin Campus in room A104.

Sprint 0 had been short, having only moved into our Massey space on Tuesday, May 5. First priorities were a quick Scrum immersion, settling on some core team tools (like Trello, our virtual Kanban board), and drafting team norms (such as donut preferences – these Brazilians LOVE chocolate glaze). Because our project will only run for four months, the team committed to one-week sprints and the delivery of something usable every Friday. Sprint planning is 10 am every Monday, we hold daily 10 am fifteen-minute scrums, and each Friday ends with a sprint review and retrospective. It was also important during this first week to lay out our broad development objectives and a general technology framework. Essentially, we intend to build a server-based delivery system for gamified 360-degree panoramas. It will support delivery to a desktop via a custom WordPress theme and accompanying plugins, or to mobile devices in the form of apps.   Read More →

BIT Space Development founder, Dan Blair

Aptly named BIT Space Development, founder Dan Blair just graduated from the BIT Program himself this past February. One of his first contracts was with RRC’s Teaching and Learning Technology Centre to continue development of its Trying On The Trades project (TOTT), an interactive panorama prototype intended to introduce Manitoba secondary students to the skilled trades. Over the next few months that proof of concept will now evolve into an open, server-based framework that will support WordPress deployment of the original gamified panoramas, a variety of related Web and mobile apps, and the porting of interactive 360-degree panoramas into Virtual Reality headsets such as Oculus Rift, Gear VR, and Google Cardboard. Read More →

Zoe, a term 6 BIT Network Management student, has been selected as Cisco Live Dream Team Canadian Representative for this year.

Please click on the link below to see Zoe’s video application

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvEbHrpoHS4

Please see below for her answers to the application questions …

Describe why you are motivated to participate in this development opportunity with Cisco. (max 400 words)

I would love to join the 2015 Dream Team because I feel it would be an excellent skill developing experience, awesome resume item, and assist in making new business connections.

Describe any experience or qualities which demonstrate your ability to work with IT equipment, collaborate in a team environment, and deliver outstanding customer support. (max 400 words)

While working at a crown corporation (Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries) I; assisted end users with day to day troubleshooting, managed the casinos network and services across Manitoba, assisted floor staff on slot machines and event staff in the building of the new Club Regent Event Centre.

During my contract at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights I worked on building the network infrastructure for the gorgeous new building. I worked in the server room from Cisco Nexus 7000 to the AP located around the sculpture (the building has unique insurance because it actually is defined as a sculpture instead of a building). At the museum I worked with the mobile app department; developers and museum visitors, training and trouble shooting. As well assisting all departments in every day IT questions and issues.

I started a business where I do Managed Services (Glass Frog Technical Services) for small to medium sized businesses and assisted another IT company (Octopi Managed Services Inc.). At both companies I use Cisco equipment and recommend Cisco gear to my clients. At Octopi they were going through a bad year (5 year old company/7 person team) and asked me to help – after joining them in November I took over; Operations Manager, Project Manager, Sales Engineer, Technical Support, etc and they had their most successful month ever this January. I have clients in many different professional fields and even locations; recently I managed a project of upgrading a client with offices in Canada and US, upgrade their office backbone to tunnel between the three locations.

Previous to Netacad I also worked four years as an IT Manager at Lazer Grant LLP.

Provide examples of any accomplishments or achievements you have in the area of IT and Networking outside the traditional classroom environment, including community outreach activities, consulting services, awards or recognition, etc. (max 400 words)

– Started a business, Glass Frog Technical Services

– Assisted a business that was in trouble, Octopi Managed Services Inc.

– Director at Manitoba Ferret Association (Social media, Website, Technical support, 2009 – present)

– Member of Skullspace Winnipeg Inc. (2013 – present)

– Speaking at DigiGirlz this coming April 15th, mentoring young woman pursuing IT careers

– Red River College Mentor Program, joining international students with local students

Describe any other accomplishments or unique attributes you would like to share (i.e. military experience, languages spoken, business ventures, etc.)

– Started a managed services business, Glass Frog Technical Services

– Assisted a business that was in trouble, Octopi Managed Services Inc., who now is up and running more successful than ever before

If you would like more information about this event…

http://www.ciscolive.com/us/?cid=000252048

Congratulations Zoe on this great achievement and we all hope you have fun in San Diego. And take lots of pictures!!!!!