RRC researcher Jose Delos Reyes installs the weather station on the roof.

The Canadian GeoExchange Coalition (CGC) has awarded one of its GeoExchange Excellence awards to Southern Comfort Mechanical Inc. (SCMI) for its work with Red River College (RRC) on the geothermal installation and measurement in The Cornerstone Life Lease Estates building.
CGC awards the prizes to regional geothermal heat-pump projects that showcase both complexity and quality of installation and design.
Opened in 2010, “The Cornerstone” is a four-storey Winnipeg residential development that features a number of sustainable design solutions, including above-average insulation levels and 100 per cent geothermal space heating.
Last summer, RRC staff and students from the Centre for Applied Research in Sustainable Infrastructure (CARSI) worked with SCMI to install a building-monitoring system and weather station on the roof of The Cornerstone. The system provided crucial performance evaluation on SCMI’s geothermal heat pump that uses loops in the ground to generate efficient energy for the building.
Among the many innovations of this design is the system’s ability to dump excess heat into the parkade floor when in cooling mode. RRC’s data allowed SCMI to make necessary adjustments that ensured the most efficient use of this technology.
“This award would not have been possible without the expertise and hard work of the RRC research team,” said Mike Millard, project lead and President of The Geothermal Alternative. “Their performance-evaluation data is vital to The Cornerstone’s improved energy efficiency and will be extremely valuable for the sustainable design of future Manitoba buildings.”
The prizes were awarded on May 3rd during the annual Canadian GeoExchange Conference and Trade Show in Burnaby, British Columbia.
For more information on RRC’s involvement in sustainable design, visit the Sustainable Infrastructure Technology Research Group web page.
For more information on the CGC’s GeoExchange Excellence awards, click here.
To view SCMI’s announcement and full application, click here.

Red River College (RRC) faculty and students will benefit from $97,500 to conduct innovative research projects in 2011 – 2012.
The Research Innovation Fund (RIF) is provided by Applied Research & Commercialization (AR&C) to encourage faculty, staff, and students to engage in research activities at the College.
“The intent is to develop and build internal research capacity,” says Ray Hoemsen P. Eng., director of AR&C. “This year’s award winners came forward with several original, yet practical applied research project proposals.”
AR&C awarded funding to 13 applicants from several College programs: Aboriginal Education, Applied Commerce & Management Education, Automotive Transportation, Business & Applied Arts, Civil Engineering Technology, Electrical Engineering Technology, Electronic Engineering Technology, Graphic Design, Health Sciences & Community Services, the Language Training Centre, and Mechanical Engineering Technology.
Past notable RIF projects include Mechanical Engineering Technology’s Rapid Prototype Composite Tooling (featured on netcomposites.com) and Electrical Engineering Technology’s GPS Wildlife Tracking Collar (featured in ACCC’s January 2011 issue of Accelerating Innovation on p. 9).
“The RIF program has proven very successful in providing research opportunities and resources to the staff, faculty, and students who need them the most,” says Hoemsen.
The award funds go into a special account created for each award winner for them to use on specific project costs.  The winners are required to submit a full report following the completion of their projects.
For information on this year’s award winning projects, download our 2011 RIF Summary Report.
Congratulations to all the award winners:
Bio-fuelProduction
Michael Myrowich, Automotive Transportation
Computerized Assessment of Natural Language Test
Laurie Cutrone, Business and Applied Arts
Crack Detection in Concrete Beam – Phase Two
Liting Han and Dave Bertin, Electrical Engineering Technology
Effects of Supplementng Aboriginal Post-Secondary Transition Programs with Traditional Aboriginal Cultural Activities
Karen Favell, Aboriginal Education
Gateway to Applied Business Research
Tatjana Brkic, Applied Commerce & Management Education
High-intensity Focused Ultrasound Monitoring Using Electric Impedance
Mohammad Aboofazeli & Haider Al-Saidi, Electrical Engineering Technology
Investigation of an Environmentally Friendly Solvent for use in Instrumental Chemical Analysis
Michael Judge, Health Sciences and Community Services
New Media – Design & Development for Layer App
Ilse Dyck, Graphic Design
Nutrients in Snow
Ian Halket, Civil Engineering Technology
Solar Ebike – Phase One
Leon Fainstein, Mechanical Engineering Technology
Traffice Situational Awareness System for the Visually Impaired
Liting Han, Dave Bertin, Electrical Engineering Technology
Ultra-wideband Antenna and Signal Design – Phase Two
Saleh Mneina, Electronic Engineering Technology
Stay tuned for the results of last year’s RIF projects and a call for applications for 2012 RIF projects.

The Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) recently named Ray Hoemsen, Red River College’s (RRC) Director of Applied Research & Commercialization as their prestigious Gold Leadership Excellence Award winner.
The award recognizes an individual from a Canadian college that has made the greatest impact on his/her institution and, as a result, the communities it serves. Ray accepted the award at the Annual ACCC Conference on June 5 in Edmonton, Alberta.

Below are photos of Ray accepting the award:
 

The Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) has named Ray Hoemsen, Red River College’s (RRC) Director of Applied Research & Commercialization as their prestigious Gold Leadership Excellence Award winner.
“Mr. Hoemsen was recognized for the exceptional work he has done in creating and leading sustained applied research, innovation, and commercialization programs in Manitoba,” said James Knight, ACCC President and CEO. “His leadership in this area has been a model for other colleges regionally and nationally.”
Every year, the ACCC recognizes an individual from a Canadian college that has made the greatest impact on his/her institution and, as a result, the communities it serves.
“We were proud to nominate Ray for this award and are delighted that he has won,” said Stephanie Forsyth, President of RRC.  “Ray is creative, dynamic, and has shown a sustained level of leadership excellence in his field and amongst his communities.”
Ray is credited with launching the College’s applied research enterprise in 2004.  Since then, he has been the driving force behind the creation of four applied research centres and a key factor to RRC winning several government and industry awards that amount to several million dollars in funding for the College.
“RRC continues to overachieve in the area of applied research with Ray leading the way,” said Ken Webb, VP, Academic and Research at RRC. “But the impacts he has made extend far beyond RRC and include leadership roles both nationally and internationally.”
Ray has been a leading advocate in driving the public policy change to recognize the strategic role played by Canadian colleges in Canada’s research and innovation agenda.
“Canadian colleges’ historical focus has been on providing technical education and training,” said Ron Britton, Professor and Associate Dean at the University of Manitoba. “Ray successfully made the case for applied research at the college level to create the program we see today at RRC, and at other Canadian colleges.”
Ray’s leadership contributions are indeed far reaching. He has led, or played a notable role in over 70 community organizations in post-secondary education, engineering and technology, policy leadership, national and local sports, and neighborhood clubs.
“It has been said, half in jest, that a committee that is working for the betterment of our community isn’t officially sanctioned unless Ray is a member,” said Britton.  I’ve known him since his undergraduate days, and even then, you could tell he had that something extra.”
Ray has historically led by example and shown humility.  He was no different in accepting this award.
“This is really a team award,” said Hoemsen. “I love what I do and am lucky to have been surrounded by people who can embrace change and make things happen. “