Red River College Continuing Studies instructor Ursula Neufeld has helped transform one of Main Street’s most colourful landmarks into a similarly eclectic downtown showpiece, while at the same time providing a creative outlet for those struggling with mental illness, addiction and homelessness.

Neufeld, a local visual artist who teaches Early Childhood Education courses at RRC, has for the last two years served in a lead role on a community arts project launched by local artists at the Red Road Lodge, 631 Main St. (formerly the New Occidental Hotel, now a transitional housing complex for at-risk individuals).

The result is a stunning outdoor mosaic located on the Lodge’s north-facing wall — one that’s inspired by traditional Aboriginal teachings, but also reflective of the diverse backgrounds of the hundreds of people who’ve contributed to its completion.

“We wanted to do something beautiful for the neighbourhood — to share in the creative process with the people here,” says Neufeld of the creative types behind Studio 631, an arts and culture resource housed within the Lodge. “But they didn’t just want to do a painting — they wanted to do something different.” Read More →

Faye Bychuk (second from right), RRC's Safety & Training Coordinator, accepts the national NAOSH Award in Whistler, B.C., in September.

Red River College has been recognized at both the provincial and national level for its activities during North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week 2011.

RRC’s Joint Safety and Health Committee received a national NAOSH award, presented in September 2011 at the Canadian Society of Safety Engineers Conference in Whistler, B.C. In October 2011, the committee scored a provincial award in the “Most Innovative” category.

“Red River College’s active participation in NAOSH Week is a demonstration of leadership, knowledge, training, education and reinforcement of proper safety practices and procedures,” says Daryl Nielsen, RRC’s Manager of Environmental Health & Safety.

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Photo courtesy Winnipeg Free Press.

Red River College is proud to congratulate plumbing instructor W. Hal Hokanson, who received one of two Instructor of the Year honours handed out at this week’s 2011 Apprenticeship Awards of Distinction.

Held annually by Apprenticeship Manitoba and the Apprenticeship and Certification Board, the awards celebrate those who’ve shared their time and talent in training apprentices, thus contributing to the development of certified journeypersons with a special passion and pride for their trade.

“Plumbers are the protectors of the potable water system in Canada. If we don’t do our jobs properly, people can die,” Hokanson told the Winnipeg Free Press. “I spend a lot of time discussing ethics and the responsibilities of what we’re doing with my students. There’s a lot of discovery, a lot of moments of enlightenment. On the job, they learn how, but they rarely discuss why.”

Hokanson, who’s only been teaching at RRC for four years, has already been nominated twice for Instructor of the Year honours. Click here to read a full profile that ran in the Winnipeg Free Press.

Red River College (RRC) faculty and students will benefit from $97,500 to conduct innovative research projects in 2011 and 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. Read More →

A pair of Red River College instructors have launched a new website aimed at helping Manitoba voters make an informed choice in the upcoming election.

Earlier this week, RRC instructors Kyle Geske and Jody Gillis — also the co-founders of Open Democracy Manitoba — launched ManitobaElection.ca, a comprehensive resource for information on the pending provincial election.

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With the collegiate sports season gearing up, and the launch of its new soccer program, Red River College has added four new coaches to its athletics department this fall. Doug Lawrie and Paul Thompson will coach women’s and men’s soccer, respectively, while Jaenas Pangilinan  will coach women’s basketball and Lea Romanchuk will coach women’s volleyball.

“With their experience and enthusiasm, our new coaches will definitely play a key role in leading our Rebels teams to great success,” said Ryan Ratushniak, Red River College Director of Athletics.

For more information on RRC Rebels Athletics, visit www.rrc.ca/athletics

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The ongoing partnership between Red River College and the Shenyang Institute of Engineering (SIE) has led to an award-winning project in which Power Engineering Technology lectures are delivered online to students in China.

The new initiative, in which two courses per year are delivered through a mix of online and on-site lectures, recently resulted in a 2011 Learning Innovation Award for RRC instructor David Kinasevych (Mechanical, Manufacturing & Communications) and Duojiao (Sarah) Guan, a visiting faculty member from Shenyang, China.

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Shaw TV’s loss is Red River College’s gain.

Longtime Shaw TV personality Joanne Kelly has revealed she’ll be leaving the community-access channel by mid-August, having accepted a new position as a journalism instructor with RRC’s industry-renowned Creative Communications program.

“I can’t believe I am writing this,” Kelly said in a Twitter post yesterday, “but after seven amazing years at Shaw TV I am moving on to my other dream job — teaching CreComm!!!”

Kelly — who’s served as host and producer at Shaw since 2004, and a producer at CTV stations in Winnipeg and Vancouver in years prior — will take over broadcast journalism duties from former CreComm instructor Steve Vogelsang, who retired in June. Read More →

Red River College instructor Linda Ament accepted a prestigious honour on behalf of General Mills Winnipeg recently, after the company was named Employer of the Year at the Manitoba Food Processors Association’s Industry Excellence Awards.

The award was based on a wide range of criteria, including General Mills’ employee relations, training, communications, continuous improvement, labour relations, and compensation and benefits practices. Ament (shown, bottom right), who serves as Human Resources Manager at GM’s Winnipeg plant, says the honour comes at an especially important time in the company’s evolution.

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As part of their efforts to make composite manufacturing more economical, an instructor and a grad from RRC's Mechanical Engineering Technology program have developed a new means of making dissolvable mandrels and patterns, otherwise known as "rapid prototype composite tooling (RPCT)."

Composite manufacturing currently has substantial overhead costs, partly due to the expense of tooling.

"To produce these tools, one typically requires expensive machines that are also very slow and costly to operate," says Leon Fainstein, the instructor who led the development of the new RPCT. "By contrast, RPCT involves only one affordable machine — a 3D printer."

The 3D printer will print virtually any shape of dissolvable mandrels and patterns in about four to eight hours, and even print multiple mandrels or patterns at once.

"Manufacturers require permanent composite molds for short production runs. RPCT can make them with dissolvable patterns," says Serge Broeska (shown, above), the program grad who's now working as a Research Technologist at RRC's Centre for Applied Research in Sustainable Infrastructure  (CARSI). "These composite molds can be very complex, have smooth surfaces, and are comparable to metal molds, with the exception that they are much less expensive."

While there are other methods of making dissolvable mandrels and patterns, RPCT is the only method whereby dissolvable mandrels and patterns can be made directly from CAD files.

"With the progressive development of RPCT, the possibilities for composite design and manufacturing are becoming endless," says Broeska.

To learn more about this breakthrough, read Broeska's article here.

Click here for more information about RRC's Mechanical Engineering Technology program.