Graduates of RRC technology programs got together for an evening of networking and reminiscing on October 12 at the College’s tech alumni reception. Guests interacted with some of RRC’s newest projects in the field, including our robot Baxter, solar car, and electric bike. They also checked out technology from days gone by, including vintage calculator collections, arcade games, and brain puzzles. Thanks to everyone who was able to come out – see you at next year’s reception or at another alumni event in the near future!

Stop by RRC’s Notre Dame Campus for some after-work networking and reminiscing. For one night only, we’re transforming the Voyageur into a fun and funky retro gaming lounge, showcasing how far technology has come over the decades. Mix and mingle with alumni from your industry and enjoy delicious drinks and appetizers. Play retro video games and check out exhibits like our robot Baxter, RRC’s solar car, and instructors’ vintage calculator collections.

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We’ve heard you loud and clear: you miss connecting with one another and with your alma mater. Guess what? We’ve missed you too!

To help us get reacquainted with one another and to showcase some of the innovative projects we’ve been working on, RRC will hold several after-work alumni receptions this fall. Hosted by participating schools, these events range from an evening of wine and cheese in a transformed downtown atrium to a retro video game lounge at our Notre Dame Campus.

Keep an eye out for an invitation to your special event that includes all of the fun details. If you want a jump on registration, please email Alumni Engagement and we’ll make sure you’re on the invite list. We look forward to seeing you in the weeks to come!

• Wednesday, October 12: Technology Alumni event
• Tuesday, October 26: Health Sciences and Community Services Alumni event
• Thursday, November 3: Business and Applied Arts Alumni event
• Wednesday, November 9: Trades Alumni event
• Thursday, November 17: Indigenous Alumni event

You asked, and we listened! Starting in the fall of 2016, Alumni Engagement at Red River College will be offering free life-long learning classes for our graduates. These events will be interest-based and offered throughout the year on a variety of topics. Wait…did we mention these events are FREE for RRC alumni?

First up this year is Rockin’ the Rainbow: Everything you ever wanted to know about LGBTT* but didn’t know who to ask. Do you know the recent movement regarding safe space programs or the roots of pride parades? Our world and the words we use shift and change all the time. Uncut and unfiltered, this two-hour event is your chance to delve into gender and sexual diversity and the complexity of the human state. Read More →

Showcase your proud RRC connection — or that of an employee, mentor, or industry colleague — by taking part in our 2015 billboard campaign!

We want to celebrate the success of our alumni and the diverse, innovative organizations that employ our grads. Building on the momentum of our previous billboard campaigns, we invite you to join us in a creative, co-operative advertising opportunity.

You pick the grad, and we handle the purchasing and production work. Then we’ll split the hard costs — and share in the campaign’s success!

Deadline for submissions is Jan. 14, 2015.

Learn more about the new campaign →

Big rigs and bite-sized burgers drove a road-worthy crowd to Red River College’s 2014 Alumni Reception, where former grads, current students and RRC supporters celebrated decades of success and forward momentum.

Certainly no one minded the traffic at the College’s Heavy Equipment Transportation Centre (HETC), where this year’s “GO!”-themed event — with its focus on transportation trades — gave our growing network of grads a chance to re-connect with old friends, while toasting the achievements of their peers.

Held Sept. 27, the event drew an estimated 250 guests to the HETC space, where the centerpiece was an elevated semi cab put on display by presenting sponsor Maxim Truck & Trailer. Manshield Construction (Yellow Light Sponsor) and Assiniboine Credit Union (Red Light Sponsor) also came on board to help make this year’s signature celebration a success.

Guests enjoyed performances by local artists Luke Reimer (RRC grad), Rhia Rae (current Creative Communications student) and Matt Worobec (RRC grad who’s part of the group Alyx Knight).

During the evening, they also sampled culinary creations by RRC Chefs of Distinction Craig Guenther (Urban Prairie Cuisine) and Barbara O’Hara (Dessert Sinsations Café).

Also on tap: beverage tastings courtesy of Banville & Jones Wine Co., Crown Royal, Farmery Estate Brewery, De Luca’s Coffee, and Green Carrot Juice Company, and the much-anticipated Slider Contest, featuring mouthwatering mini-burgers created and served by industry partners from Freightliner, Bison Transport, Turk Enterprises, Custom Transport and Payne Transportation. The winner of the contest was Freightliner’s Ken Talbot, whose smoked meat slider won his team top honours.

Click here to see a video of the event, or here to see a photo gallery.

Shown above, from left: Angela Chambers, alumni council member; Tom Payne Jr, President of Payne Transportation LP; David Rew, Interim President and CEO of Red River College; Dave Tyrchniewicz, President of Turk Enterprises; Harry Dornn, Vice President of Marketing, Maxim Truck and Trailer; Ken Talbot, President/Dealer Principal of Freightliner Manitoba Ltd.; Steven Orbanski of Bison Transport; Kirk Warren, President/Owner of Custom Transport.

Less than a year after graduating from Red River College’s Creative Communications program, 23-year old Kyle Jahns has landed a dream job – covering the 2014 Olympic Games from Sochi.

“Covering curling at the Olympics has been an experience I’ll always remember,” Jahns says (via email). “I was here for a few weeks before the Games started and was able to watch the entire buildup. The Main Press Centre and venues went from being nearly empty to absolutely full. Watching all of this happen built up anticipation for the event.”

Jahns is covering curling for the Olympic News Service. It’s a busy job – with three draws a day, he works up to 14 hours in a 24-hour period.

“Before the competition started I was responsible for researching and writing stories about curling. There were small features on the players and articles on the basics of curling for the media who might not be as familiar with the sport.”

Now that the event is underway, he watches the Games, conducts interviews, writes, and sends content through the wire.

“Our job is to focus on all of the teams, players, and coaches at the Games. We’re here for every single game and aim to get all of their reactions at some point or another.” Read More →

Following three weeks of classroom study, eight weeks of lab time, and two weeks of work experience, students from RRC’s Winkler Campus have completed the final phase of the region’s first-ever mobile MIG Welding training program.

Delivered via RRC’s Mobile Training Lab, the program offers entry-level production welding training, allowing students with no previous welding experience to be ready for the workplace in just 13 weeks.

The initiative was made possible with funding from Apprenticeship Manitoba, and will help meet the growing regional demand for welders by providing work-ready candidates throughout the province.

For more information, or to be placed on a student contact list for future offerings, please contact the RRC Winkler Campus at 204.325.9672 or winkler@rrc.ca.

Click here to learn more about RRC’s Mobile Training Labs, which help increase access to trades training in rural and northern communities.

Kris Hancock has a few axes to grind. Then he’ll get them signed by rock stars and auction them off for charity.

The Ecole Selkirk Junior High teacher and Red River College grad (Industrial Arts/Technology Teacher Education, 2007) is the creator of the B.O.S.S. Guitar Works program, an afterschool course where Grade 7 and 8 students design and build custom electric guitars. (The program’s title stands for Building On Student Success.)

The guitars are then painted and sent to celebrities – among them Gene Simmons, Roger Waters, William Shatner and Jann Arden – for signatures before being auctioned off to support the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and other Manitoba charities.

When Hancock and other teachers planned the first auction in 2010, the goal was to raise $1,000. For this year’s event on May 30, the target is a hundred times that.

“It’s turned into something that’s truly amazing,” Hancock says. “It started as a small idea and the next thing you know, we’ve had celebrities sign over 100 guitars.”

Hancock says he had the first inklings of the fundraising plan while he was still studying to be an industrial arts teacher at Red River College. As his instructors and classmates discussed projects that would capture the attention of future preteen students, his own enthusiasm for playing electric guitar came to mind.

“You have to find something that engages, something that’s fresh and new. If a project is boring or not interesting, they’ll turn off. Your class won’t be fun for them and it won’t be fun for you.” Read More →

Congratulations to the above team of RRC Culinary Arts students, who took top honours in the 2013 Manitoba Mission: ImPULSEible competition.

Hosted by Pulse Canada at RRC’s Paterson GlobalFoods Institute, the event aims to develop innovative food products containing whole pulses (the edible seeds of plants in the legume family) or pulse ingredients. Students present their products at provincial competitions where judges evaluate them based on sensory and health attributes, the innovative use of pulses, feasibility and marketability.

RRC’s team — consisting of students Hayley Walker, Scott Ball and Ian Gerbrandt — won their provincial competition with a “Power Pulse Ice Cream Sandwich,” comprised of lentil cookie and chickpea ice cream. They now move forward to the national competition in Calgary in June.

Click here for more info on the Mission: ImPULSEible competition.