Transforming students, faculty, staff and clients through education, partnerships, entrepreneurship and applied research has been Mark’s focus since joining the college sector in 2007. This has been accomplished by developing strong internal and external networks with creative, driven and passionate people; leveraging the expertise of faculty and staff; engaging students in addressing real-world problems and opportunities; and collaborating closely with industry, government and community organizations.
Prior to joining Red River College, Mark worked at Algonquin College, as their Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives. Mark has also worked for the IOGEN Corporation in Ottawa, the Alberta Research Council in Edmonton, Millar Western Pulp Limited in Saskatchewan and the National Research Council of Canada.
While at Algonquin College, Mark was privileged to be involved with sustainability, entrepreneurship, applied research and commercialization, aboriginal affairs, First Generation students, experienced workers, school board programs, labour market information, partnerships and sponsorships, and immigrants.
He served on numerous committees including the Sustainable Algonquin Steering Committee, the College Budget Committee, the Entrepreneurship Working Group and the 2017-2022 Strategic Plan Advisory Team.
Mark has over twenty-five years of academic and applied research experience in chemistry, environmental sciences, advanced materials, pulp and paper, and biotechnology.
Mark holds a Ph.D. (Chemistry), a Bachelor of Science (Honours Chemistry) and a Bachelor of Arts (Chemistry/Spanish) from Queen’s University.

New funding for Red River College’s Science of Early Child Development program will help explore the impact of improved language and literacy skills on vulnerable children and their caregivers.
The nearly $234,000 in funding — from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s (SSHRC) Community and College Social Innovation Fund — will support new research to understand how changing at-risk children’s education environments can have a positive ripple effect on the adults around them.
The College will use the funds to expand current work studying the Abecedarian Approach, an internationally recognized intervention that creates a play-based, language-focused environment to promote development in at-risk kids from birth to age five.
“We believe an important part of the story is missing where the research focus is solely on child outcomes,” says Janet Jamieson, research chair for RRC’s Health Sciences and Community Services department. “While a child’s world is shaped by their environment and those around them, it should not be ignored that they in turn can have important impacts on those external elements.”
While there are plenty of studies demonstrating the success of the Abecedarian Approach on child development, very little has been documented on the effects had on adult caregivers of children enrolled in the program.
The College’s research is expected to play a meaningful role in informing policy, through insights into how evidence-based interventions with children in impoverished and challenged neighbourhoods could have positive impacts on families and communities.
“Evidence shows that the severe economic and societal challenges children from impoverished communities are faced with often lead to very poor outcomes in their development,” Jamieson explains. “These outcomes can be extremely disruptive for families and communities, which is why researching interventions such as the Abecedarian Approach is important.”
The College and its partners — Manidoo Gi Miini Gonaan and Healthy Child Manitoba — are currently involved in an Abecedarian intervention being implemented at Manidoo’s Lord Selkirk Park Children’s Centre in Winnipeg’s North End.
The new funding, announced Friday by Minister of Science Kristy Duncan, allows RRC to build on its local and international leadership role in social innovation research and knowledge mobilization.
“Red River College plays an important role in supporting social innovation, and our ongoing work in early child education continues to be recognized internationally for the positive impact it has made,” says Paul Vogt, president and CEO, Red River College.
“SSHRC’s support today will help us continue to connect with our valued partners to expand this research, as it’s crucial to communities in Manitoba, in Canada and around the world.”

Top row: Rob Spewak, RRC Polytech BETAC Manager; Lloyd Kuczek, VP with Manitoba Hydro; Jose Delos Reyes, RRC Polytech Research Manager; Bottom row: Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science; Ray Hoemsen, RRC Polytech Research director; His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada; Neil Cooke, Dean, Teaching Excellence, Innovation and Research, RRC Polytech; Mario Pinto, President of NSERC. Credit: MCpl Vincent Carbonneau, Rideau Hall, OSGG

On May 26, 2016 Red River College (RRC) was prominently featured in a story on NSERC’s 2016 Synergy award winners, where RRC was the only college to receive the Synergy Award for Innovation.
Excerpt from the Article:

An example in the clean technology space is Manitoba Hydro Place, a collaboration between Red River College and Manitoba Hydro, says Dr. Hamelin. The challenge was to revitalize an aging downtown area in Winnipeg with emphasis on sustainability, she explains. The result? The construction of what’s considered one of the most energy-efficient office towers in North America.

“Manitoba Hydro Place is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum-certified and has earned many awards. It’s very impressive,” says Dr. Hamelin, who toured the building recently. Her team also had a chance to ride in a zero-emissions electric battery transit bus, which represents another aspect of this collaboration.

The Red River College and Manitoba Hydro partnership was recognized with an NSERC Synergy Award for Innovation, says Dr. Hamelin, who believes raising the profile of collaborations may serve as an inspiration for others.

See the full article: Partnering for Success

As more research is being performed and more knowledge is being shared about the importance of managing and controlling air leakage within the building envelope, leaders in the building design industry are stepping forward to collaborate with BETAC to ensure their structures are performing as they are meant to.

One of these leaders is ft3 Architects, who partnered with us on two projects.

Cornerstone Life Lease Estates

A seniors housing facility in northeast Winnipeg, consisting of 52 units for both independent and assisted living. The facility was designed by ft3 Architects, who are interested in monitoring the performance of the building and using the results to inform future designs and specifications for future projects.

Our Research

• BETAC, through its Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) funding, installed sensors within the buildings’ heating, cooling, and ventilation systems.
• The data is gathered on an ongoing basis, allowing them to monitor the energy performance characteristics of the building.

St. Matthews Church

The church was newly renovated in 2014 and now serves a different purpose to the community. The worship and office spaces were transformed into 26 new housing units for families in the inner city neighborhood. They also created smaller worship areas for numerous congregations and a drop-in centre. The building is now referred to as the WestEnd Commons. During the renovation, the building envelope was modified with the addition of interior insulation to the brick structure.

Our Research

• BETAC installed moisture and temperature sensors within the wall sections (through NSERC funding), to monitor and compare the moisture and temperature levels against the performance levels generated from the computer model, and to ensure excess moisture is not accumulating over time within the brick façade.

Data will be provided to ft3 on an ongoing basis, as this information may serve to better inform design

BETAC is working in conjunction with Hatch’s Structural Consultant in Winnipeg for Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation. Gerdau is undertaking a major renovation of one of its buildings, the Melt Shop Facility at its Manitoba Mill located in Selkirk, MB.

Background

The building in question houses an industrial process with extreme process conditions (heat, particulate matter, corrosive materials) and is subject to a planned roof replacement.

The current roof has reached its intended life service target of fifty years, however the interior and exterior has corroded substantially. This has resulted in increasing heat loss in the winter as well as water ingress into the building.

Our Services

The research undertaken by BETAC addressed the building and material science uncertainties created by the extreme conditions from the industrial process and Manitoba climate.

Results

The final project report addresses the mechanisms that led to the roof damage, as well as the various design and maintenance considerations for this particular building that is subject to such extreme internal and external conditions.

BETAC worked with Synyshyn Architecture to support and further their evaluation of the building envelope system for The Ladco Lakepointe Apartments located in southeast Winnipeg.

Background

Air leakage and thermal bridging can significantly impact the efficiency, durability, and longevity of a building. Air leaks and thermal bridges affect the building’s energy costs, the comfort of the occupants, the efficiency of the HVAC system, and can even cause damage to the building’s structure and materials. Although air leakage can never be eliminated in a building, it can be managed and controlled to minimize a number of potential threats.

Services Provided

• BETAC conducted thermal scans of the building envelope from the exterior of the apartments and limited scans from the interior due to access. We also pressurized one apartment to further enhance the identification of air leakage pathways by thermography.

Results

• By identifying these deficiencies in the building envelope with respect to thermal bridging, heat loss and air leakage, this will assist Synyshyn Architecture with any future repairs and retro-fit programs.

Check out this article in the Winnipeg Free Press by Martin Cash. He shares the exciting and – perhaps to some – surprising news that Winnipeg has been ranked as one of the planet’s most intelligent communities for the second time.
Red River College (RRC) evidently played a prominent role in Winnipeg achieving this distinction.
Except from the article:
Another collaboration that makes Winnipeg look intelligent is New Flyer Industries’ development of an all-electric bus as part of a project that includes the provincial government, Manitoba Hydro, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Red River College and Winnipeg Transit.
RRC Research Manager, Brent Wennekes was in attendance at the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and Econimc Development Winnipeg luncheon where Robert Bell, co-founder of the New York-based Intelligent Community Forum presented to the audience a number of examples of why Winnipeg is considered an Intelligent Community.
“Robert said that he hasn’t seen anyone else achieve what the College and its partners had achieved with the all electric transit bus project,” said Wennekes. “He also quoted the Centre for Aerospace Technology and Training in his examples along with a number of other collaborative activities.”
Learn more about some of RRC’s Intelligent City contributions:

Zero Emissions Electric Transit Bus

This video shares information about North America’s first all-electric transit bus prototype and rapid charging system, which passed the the test of real-world in-transit testing and demonstration in the coldest winter that Manitoba has seen in over a century.  Learn more about the project and its international consortium of partners by checking out this professional video (produced with the support of NSERC).

Technology Access Centre for Aerospace & Manufacturing

This video highlights the technology, capabilities, focus areas, and resources offered by Red River College to industry via the Technology Access Centre for Aerospace & Manufacturing which include the Centre for Aerospace Technology & Training.  Check out the video (created with the support of NSERC) to learn all about it:

Green energy in one of the planet’s coldest cities

In February 2016, the RRC/Manitoba Hydro research partnership was recognized with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s prestigious Synergy Innovation Award at a ceremony held at the Governor General of Canada’s residence in Ottawa.
In its pilot issue, the Canadian Innovation News shared a few elements of this decade-long, award-winning partnership’s story.
Click the image below to access the full pilot issue to catch up on what’s been happening in Canada’s innovation scene. And don’t forget to check out RRC’s coverage on page 32!

 
 

Red River College has joined forces with the Western Canadian Innovation Offices (WCIO) consortium as part of an effort to connect Western Canadian industry needs with the array of research and innovation resources that exist in WCIO’s nearly 40-member consortium of universities, colleges and polytechnics across the West.
The WCIO is a Western Economic Diversification (WD) Canada-funded pilot project that seeks to enhance collaboration between academic research institutions, and enhance access to these institutions by prospective industry partners. The overall goal is improved engagement between industry and academia, in order to address industry-driven needs and challenges.
“Increasing R&D investment by Canadian business enterprises is definitely an opportunity for Western Canada,” says Ray Hoemsen, Director of Applied Research & Commercialization (AR&C), and WCIO steering committee member. “The WCIO initiative is working to be part of the solution by increasing the research and innovation-related engagement between industry and the post-secondary sector.”
RRC will support the WCIO with boots on the ground. Brent Wennekes, Research Manager with AR&C, has been seconded part-time — with direct financial support from WCIO — to perform as a business development specialist working with post-secondary institutions in Manitoba. Brent’s is one of eight such positions being created across the West.
“Brent is not only connected to Manitoba’s business community, he is also recognized by many local researchers via his experience with both RRC and Innovate Manitoba, and has developed an excellent understanding of Canada’s innovation ecosystem,” says Hoemsen.
WCIO currently has funding available for energy-related projects that include more than one institutional research partner.
“Strategically, with RRC’s research themes of sustainable technology and advanced transportation, our partnership makes a lot of sense,” says Hoemsen. “More importantly, businesses now have a go-to resource for tapping into the wide array of academic research that exist in the West.”
Under the theme of ‘Energy,’ WCIO includes the following research areas: clean tech/alternative energy, remediation/reclamation, hydrocarbons, hydroelectric, grid design and distribution, and socio-economic impacts.
The results of WCIO’s first call for proposals are expected to be announced imminently. A second call for proposals is anticipated later in 2016.
The WD funding for WCIO was initiated and is held by the University of Manitoba, the lead institution in the WCIO consortium.
Do you, or does your industry or sector,
have a problem that needs solving? Want to explore your potential for research capabilities across Western Canada?
To get started or learn more, contact:
Brent Wennekes
Business Development Specialist, Western Canadian Innovation Office
204.631.3323 | bwennekes@rrc.ca

On Feb. 6, 2016, Cypher’s President, Todd Burns was asked to speak with Kalen Qually on the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce’s BOLD Radio Show, which aired all across the province on 680 CJOB. Cypher Environmental was chosen as one of only two companies by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce to discuss the topic of Manitoba leading the way in innovation.
During the interview, Burns cited Red River College as an example of why Winnipeg is a great place to do business.
“In terms of the innovation that we are doing, Cypher has a really great link with Red River College…Our technical staff are able to go and utilize their labs pretty much whenever we want. We sort of have a deal on a handshake – you break it, you fix it, and clean up after yourselves and don’t get in the way of the students. And it’s been phenomenal in terms of our ability to utilize resources that we don’t have in our small facility…It’s a great way to build on our capacity to do the research and innovation and grow the business.”
To hear the full conversation with Kalen Qually on BOLD Radio, please click the link below.
https://soundcloud.com/winnipeg-chamber/bold-radio-feb-6th